I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Nora Ephron (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 9, 2010

Nora Ephron returns with her first book since the astounding success of I Feel Bad About My Neck, taking a cool, hard, hilarious look at the past, the present, and the future, bemoaning the vicissitudes of modern life, and recalling with her signature clarity and wisdom everything she hasn’t (yet) forgotten.

Ephron writes about falling hard for a way of life (“Journalism: A Love Story”) and about breaking up even harder with the men in her life (“The D Word”); lists “Twenty-five Things People Have a Shocking Capacity to Be Surprised by Over and Over Again” (“There is no explaining the stock market but people try”; “You can never know the truth of anyone’s marriage, including your own”; “Cary Grant was Jewish”; “Men cheat”); reveals the alarming evolution, a decade after she wrote and directed You’ve Got Mail, of her relationship with her in-box (“The Six Stages of E-Mail”); and asks the age-old question, which came first, the chicken soup or the cold? All the while, she gives candid, edgy voice to everything women who have reached a certain age have been thinking . . . but rarely acknowledging.

Filled with insights and observations that instantly ring true—and could have come only from Nora Ephron—I Remember Nothing is pure joy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reading these succinct, razor-sharp essays by veteran humorist (I Feel Bad About My Neck), novelist, and screenwriter-director Ephron is to be reminded that she cut her teeth as a New York Post writer in the 1960s, as she recounts in the most substantial selection here, "Journalism: A Love Story." Forthright, frequently wickedly backhanded, these essays cover the gamut of later-life observations (she is 69), from the dourly hilarious title essay about losing her memory, which asserts that her ubiquitous senior moment has now become the requisite Google moment, to several flimsy lists, such as "Twenty-five Things People Have a Shocking Capacity to Be Surprised by Over and Over Again," e.g., "Movies have no political effect whatsoever." Shorts such as the several "I Just Want to Say" pieces feature Ephron's trademark prickly contrariness and are stylistically digestible for the tabloids. Other essays delve into memories of fascinating people she knew, such as the Lillian Hellman of Pentimento, whom she adored until the older woman's egomania rubbed her the wrong way. Most winning, however, are her priceless reflections on her early life, such as growing up in Beverly Hills with her movie-people parents, and how being divorced shaped the bulk of her life, in "The D Word." There's an elegiac quality to many of these pieces, handled with wit and tenderness. (Nov.) (c)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The legions of readers who loved I Feel Bad about My Neck (2006) will pounce on Ephron’s pithy new collection. A master of the jujitsu essay, Ephron leaves us breathless with rueful laughter. As the title suggests, she writes about the weird vagaries of memory as we age, although she is happy to report that the Senior Moment has become the Google Moment. Not that any gadget rescued her when she failed to recognize her own sister. But the truth is, Ephron remembers a lot. Take her stinging reminiscence of her entry into journalism at Newsweek in the early 1960s, when “girls,” no matter how well qualified, were never considered for reporter positions. An accomplished screenwriter (When Harry Met Sally . . . and Julie & Julia) in a family of screenwriters, Ephron looks further back to her Hollywood childhood and her mother’s struggles with alcohol. Whether she takes on bizarre hair problems, culinary disasters, an addiction to online Scrabble, the persistent pain of a divorce, or that mean old devil, age, Ephron is candid, self-deprecating, laser-smart, and hilarious. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Now a popular blogger in addition to everything else, Ephron hit it so big with her last best-seller, a 500,000 print run is planned for her latest. --Donna Seaman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (November 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307595609
• ISBN-13: 978-0307595607
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (182 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nora Ephron has received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay for When Harry Met Sally, Silkwood, and Sleepless in Seattle, which she also directed. She lives in New York City with her husband, writer Nicholas Pileggi.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 131 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars My Disc Is Not Full It Is Empty November 9, 2010

By prisrob TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Nora Ephron has written a very humorous book with which I agree. She makes fun of herself as she ages, and I think many of us can identify with her plight. As she says, her memory is akin to a disc, it is not full, it is empty.

'I Remember Nothing' is a small book but filled with some wisdom and observations that make it well worth the read. The first chapter is a take on the title, 'I Remember Nothing', and it appears that is true. She relates many of the instances she can remember where she forgot. The films, books and times that were filled with fun, but gosh, what was the name of that actor. We can relate, where are my keys and glasses? Nora copes with her forgetfulness by keeping a list of things she refuses to know about. I agree with The Kardashians, American Idol and the Bachelor. But, soccer and mojitos, no way. 'Who Are You' another chapter deals with people you can't remember. A silly chapter, really. I have no trouble telling someone I am sorry but I can't remember their first name. Nora goes through hoops, it seems, to disguise her forgetfulness. 'Journalism, A Love Story, is the reason to read this book. This is a love story of her profession, and she tells us about her first job at 'Newsweek' and her rise as a woman in the field of journalism. In-between she gives us a few stories of Philip Graham, Newsweek's owner and his difficulty with Bi-Polar Disorder. The life of a young woman working in 1960's New York City, hard liquor, no wine; no take-out and lots of swearing, but not the F word. She got a job at the New York Post and started writing by-lines, and she learned her craft. She then went on to writing for magazines and films. She married and divorced and remarried. She learned that she was correct, she loved journalism and it was right for her....

Nora talks about her alcoholic parents and in particular her mother, and how she held her mother up as an idol until her alcoholism took her away. The story of her mother and Lillian Ross is memorable and quite profound. The bits and pieces of her life give us a glimpse into the soul of Nora Ephron, and she doesn't really want to give much away. She talks about diets, Teflon, her bald spot, the meatloaf named after her. The Christmas dinners with friends of twenty two years, and the memories and the people she loves. Divorce and how it became who she was for a time, and then how, she is getting old, not older but old. Times change, the children leave, it is just the two of you and how you cope, and then finally, the list of things she won't miss: emails, vacuum cleaners, mammograms, and the things she will miss, bacon, waffles, her kids, her friends- a much longer list than any of the others.

'I Remember Nothing' is a love story of growing old and older, a time that many of us will face, and Nora Ephron faces old age with grace and humor. And, I like it. I want to grow old just like her. Too much to do and see, and so little tme.

Recommended. prisrob 11-09-10

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being a Woman (Vintage)

You've Got Mail (Deluxe Edition) Read more ›

112 of 129 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars What A Waste Of Time And Money November 14, 2010

By montanarose

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love Nora Ephron: her books, her screenplays, her essays. But, boy, did she snooker me into this one. I purchased it for my Kindle and inhaled it in under an hour. I got to the end and said "huh?" to myself ( "huh?" as in, is that all there is?)

Yeah, there were a few bon mots, a few chuckles, but not much of substance (even humorous substance). I wish I'd gone to my local bookstore and curled up in an easy chair with a latte and a copy of this book: I could have polished it off around the same time I finished my latte.

What's sad is that Ephron could offer us -- her sixty-ish female cohorts -- so much more. More depth, more reality, more humanity; along with the humor and the brittle witticisms. Save your money on this one: go to your local bookstore and enjoy that latte for a third of the price of the book.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it! November 20, 2010

By Anne Raymond

Format:Hardcover

I loved Nora Ephron's "I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections". It is a book of musings - some serious, some funny, all interesting. I especially appreciate the way it was written making you feel like you're sitting across from a friend chatting over a cup of coffee. It is a short book but one that definitely hit the spot.

150 of 188 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Attuned to the Popular Zeitgeist November 9, 2010

By Eileen Pollock

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Despite the title of this collection of essays, Nora Ephron remembers quite a bit, as she displays in this intermittently amusing semi-memoir, a slim, even underweight, volume of essays. There is superficial wit on display, glibness and the quick quip, but little substance. Her new book is surely destined to be a "huge best seller", as the jacket describes her previous foray, reflections on her crepey neck. Those readers who enjoyed "My Neck" will down her new book in one gulp. They may forget it as quickly.

Nora Ephron is a craftsmanly writer. But since her subject is herself, I can't help focusing on the personal side of this book. I found something rather sad in a woman who admits she jettisoned her first husband under the influence of the early 70's women's movement. This is of a piece with her penchant for acting on the mood of the present cultural moment. She is a too absorptive sponge, deeply in touch with popular delusions, though she disdains any belief system that might give her life meaning. One suspects she has chosen to marry at least two men because they are celebrated writers, and one turned out to have poor character. She is a woman of independent accomplishment, yet she makes sure to add flourish to her author bio with the carefully casual mention of her present husband, whose name she expects everyone to recognize. Is it strictly necessary to mention twice in the first several pages that you are a graduate of an Ivy League college? And then there's her sorry conclusion: "Now the most important thing about me is that I am old." There is much more that is important about Nora Ephron, particularly her loyal family, close friends and her talent. Many people appreciate her.

What has she learned from her experiences?... That she has not forgotten the pain of betrayal by her second husband. That children suffer in divorce. That unfaithfulness is natural to the young. This at least was her experience. There is a glimmer of elegiac reflection in her last chapters, but somehow depth eludes her. Seeking a meaningful life would require her to veer away from what she is so good at, describing preparations for a Christmas dinner with madcap humor, or regaling us with how a restaurant meat loaf was named after her. She has a fine ear for anecdote and an inner true north for trifles. But compare a little known, not very prolific essayist, Julie Hecht. Julie Hecht also writes about quotidian subjects with humor, but she has a deeper underlying message - see my review of Do the Windows Open. Nora Ephron is all surface. This book is sure to be a "huge best seller", for Ms. Ephron is always finely attuned to the popular zeitgeist. Read more ›

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars I was robbed December 21, 2010

By Sheila Tate

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have read and enjoyed Nora E's previous books. This $10 essay about being old is a rip off. I remember everything about it because it's so short. So I'll be short and end my criticism and go find a good book to read.

38 of 49 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars This One is For Your Library List November 20, 2010

By Rebecca

Format:Hardcover

Nora Ephron and I go way back: to try and keep myself calm on the morning of my first wedding, I tried to read from Crazy Salad. Fast forward, and I knew Nora Ephron understood my divorce when I read (and saw) Heartburn, and I appreciated that she was sharing hope with us all -- have faith, there is true love -- when I saw Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail.

And now where I'm recognizing I am no longer young but wondering where the line is drawn between "middle age" and "geezer" - when do I cross it, how long can I dawdle? - Nora once again appears to help me. I trust her, she's already given me the Neck book (worth the buy for the neck essay alone, I think). I'm anxious for the publication of I Remember Nothing.

It's one of those books that I'm waiting to read, drumming my fingers for the book to hit Amazon or the local brick and mortar so I can own it. Read it. Re-read it. I'm waiting. Nora and I are pals.

So the disappointment that I felt after finishing I Remember Nothing is real and maybe more telling to me than the simple fact that Nora has done better work in the past. An earlier reviewer described her experience as something of a spiritual disjointing, writer and reader, and I think I share that view.

There is such a superficiality here, was it there before and I'm just now seeing it? I'm afraid to pull Neck off the shelf, for what I might find.

If you must read this book, then I recommend that you check it out of the local library.

- Reba Kennedy