Nora Ephron’s follow up to I Feel Bad About My Neck is not quite as funny, but still a cute little memoir. I Feel Bad About My Neck seemed more personal, containing information about Ephron’s divorces and career. I Remember Nothing feels superficial in comparison, more of a list of observations about ageing — at least one mention of a “senior moment” than anything really revealing about her life.
Still, it is full of Nora Ephron’s writing, so it’s still enjoyable. She’s always sharp and witty. I loved this: “A while back, my friend Graydon Carter mentioned that he was opening a restaurant in New York. I cautioned him against this, because it’s my theory that owning a restaurant is the kind of universal fantasy everyone ought to grow out of, sooner rather than later, or else you will be stuck with the restaurant. There are many problems that come with owning a restaurant, not the least of which is that you have to eat there all the time. Giving up the fantasy that you want to own a restaurant is probably the last Piaget stage.”
In fact, if I’d read it first, I probably would have liked it more than I did. It just seems like maybe the first memoir was a success, so this one was quickly thrown together and published as well.
Side note: knowing that she is no longer with us did make some parts kind of sad. For instance, “You are suddenly in a lottery, the ultimate game of chance, and someday your luck will run out. Everybody dies. There’s nothing you can do about it. Whether or not you eat six almonds a day. Whether or not you believe in God.” Tear.
