Customer Reviews

Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I feel completely bilked by this book. I had read the original edition, and loved it, when I was a teenager, so was thrilled to see it back in print. WELL! Unfortunately, the editors have actually taken a few of the articles from the original, packed in a few chapters of Scribble Scribble (which I loathed), and a random Esquire article. Ugh! I wanted the RoseMary Woods chapter. I wanted the Linda Lovelace chapter. I wanted the articles I remembered fondly. Instead, I got this dreck. The only reason I don't rate it even lower is because the writing is, as ever, quite good. But if it's not going to be the actual book it purports to be, I wish Modern Library would change the title....

I bought Crazy Salad (the original edition, from Amazon, used), after reading the new "I Feel Bad About My Neck". I really enjoyed the breezy chatty style of the new book, and the personal, witty essays about mundane things (purses, beauty regime, food). Crazy Salad isn't like that at all - it is more journalistic and newsy, and the dated essays are about 1970's politics (incl. gender politics) and political figures that have since been forgotten (I was only a baby then, so forgive me if I don't find these references meaningful). If you want a dip into what the women's movement was like in the early 70's, buy this book. If you just want a funny read, this book is not the one to buy. Also, it's not really about women, the title is misleading - it covers a whole bunch of news topics.

Nora Ephron's books generally are the best tonic for a woman who is about to embark on a new life after retirement. Which is my case, 57 year old former City Attorney moves to Poland, culture shock, no job identity, body is looking run down, want to start a new life and do it with the right attitude- she is helping me do it! Her humor lifts up my day and makes me laugh at myself. I love her and all of her books!!!! I can't wait to see her broadway show!

I read this book years ago and bought it again for my daughter. The piece on breasts is just as hilarious and relevant today (sad to say) as it was when I first read it.

This collection of essays is just being sold probably because of the success of some other books by Nora Ephron. Some of the essays are dated, although some are worthy entertainment.

Gave this book to my daughter-in-law on the recommendation of my dughter, who says this author is very special....for women. We need all the humor we can get.

It is a very interesting story about how I ended up reading this book. A couple of years ago, when my girlfriends and I were in college, a mutual friend of ours was majoring in women's studies and was required to read this book. We will call this girl Shannon.
To say Shannon abhorred it, was an understatement. She was completely horrified by some of the content of the book. She thought the author was a whiney, supercilious snob, who disdained anything that wasn't Manhattan and was thinking of changing her major. She complained so much about it , that all of us girls decided to read it and see what was so bad about it.
I could see why she was a little turned off. The author is writing from a liberal standpoint and she has a very dark, snarky sense of humor and she is extremely blunt with the way she says things.
But we all agreed, it wasn't bad at all. We all kind of liked it, except for the one about this lady giving herself an abortion in public. (eww)We got a glimpse of what the women's movement was all about and what it meant to her.
Our favorite one was a few words about breasts. I don't care what size cup you are, you will bust out laughing. If you don't read anything else, read this one.
It sets up why she just can't completely get into it at the feminist rallies and is kind of fed up with all the crazy things going on in America.(i.e. Watergate, Vietnam ,Jan Morris ,Consciousness Groups )

I like the one about meeting the first woman empire in baseball.
Another good one is about her cheesy college reunion and how with all the mistakes she made in life, she was happy she ignored her guidance counselor and became a journalist.
And the Pillsbury bake off that left her craving steak.
One really annoying thing
So I really like this book, and went and bought it at Boarders and the
one with Linda Lovelace (she was in the porno ,Deep Throat) was cut out!
Ok, if you know anything about the author's life and who she was married to at one point in time, it was a really bad idea for them to cut this one out!
They did replace it with a couple of her best from Esquire. .

But they still shouldn't of took that one out!!!!!!!!!!
Also as funny as it is, she seems kind of like she is trying to pretend to be happy but inwardly is depressed and confused, like she lost someone very important in her life.
In the new version of the book, they added this essay called The mink coat. It is all about her mother,who seemed like she was a real pistol. I guess she was also a pretty successful Hollywood screenwriter,who had just died. It actually moved to tears, something that is not easily done.
Which cleared some things up for me.

Nora Ephron is quite sure of herself and her friends, and laughs heartily at the yahoos in the Midwest who cook and love their husbands. While her writing is often amusing, her attitude of condescension and wearying self-glorification is grotesque. And to see her way back at the beginning of the Women's Movement equally sure of how circumstances would improve for women is especially painful. She poo-poohs those who wonder if women's life will actually improve, (and her own "Encounter Group" partners certainly cast doubt upon that) and lives in a world where people such as herself need not be troubled by real life.

As a historical document there is much to glean. For instance, the disgust with Watergate is palpable; yet our disgust with far greater crimes today is much less apparent. A clever lady, with a few interesting observations, but annoying and smug without being especially insightful.

I enjoyed part of this book. I laughed at a few of her stories but some of the chapters were so dated that I didn't know what she was talking about let alone whether it was funny. Maybe I was a bit too young to appreciate it all.