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Ephron's latest effort is a fun, fast read

Review of Nora Ephron book

Date published: 10/1/2006

By ELIZABETH PEZZULLO

I like short books. In fact, when I'm at the bookstore, I tilt my head to the right and scan the shelves for books with the skinniest spines.

Nora Ephron's new book, "I Feel Bad About My Neck," was one I wished were longer.

Ephron, journalist, novelist and screenwriter, bemoans getting old and all the maintenance needed just to tread water. But she does it in her inimitable, witty style. You don't come away depressed as much as invigorated.

Ephron, 65, kicks off her all-too-brief, 137-page book describing her neck--which she hates and rarely shows--not even on the book jacket.

"There are chicken necks. There are turkey gobbler necks. There are elephant necks. There are necks with wattles and necks with creases that are on the verge of becoming wattles," Ephron writes, proceeding to describe an array of aging women's neck types. Her ultimate conclusion: Wear turtlenecks and scarves.

For the uninitiated, Ephron freely admits she's no stranger to plastic surgery--having had a few Botox injections and spent well over $20,000 on dental work. But she also describes how she's streamlined seemingly endless grooming rituals. Her hair, for example, is done twice weekly--that's it. And she doesn't even bother with manicures. (No self-respecting writer--whose hands are her tools --would.)

She also takes on those other pesky beauty chores such as makeup and ridding yourself of unwanted hair--either by plucking yourself pink or having hot wax ripped off your body--along with exercise and skin care.

Ephron's book doesn't only lament the march of time; she also graciously drops in a few chapters about her life.

Ephron is one of the brilliant screenwriters behind such cinematic hits as "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle." And she brings that funny but serious approach to this latest work.

She also touches on her life as a journalist and raising her children.

One added nugget is about her 1961 stint in the press office of President Kennedy.

She writes that the president, notorious for his womanizing, never made a pass at her, something she chalks up to a bad perm.

Lots of funny memories like this litter the book, making it a fun, fast read. A little too fast for me.

ELIZABETH PEZZULLO is a reporter and editor with The Free Lance-Star.

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Date published: 10/1/2006