I Feel Bad About My NeckAnd Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

Plastic surgery, purses, parenting and passionate love affairs — with apartments.
In her fifth essay collection, writer-director Nora Ephron takes on aging, grimly but gleefully recounting the indignities of being a woman and growing old. As read by the tart-tongued author herself, the short chapters on plastic surgery, purses, parenting and passionate love affairs — with apartments — make for the best sort of bittersweet treats; it's hard to stop at just one. But casual cooks and aspiring foodies alike will want to linger longer over the chapter entitled "Serial Monogamy: a Memoir." In it, Ephron looks back fondly over a life punctuated by what she calls "insane culinary episodes," faddish attachments to various cuisines that frequently outlasted her marriages. Anyone who's ever talked back to a cookbook in frustration will enjoy her imaginary conversations with Julia Child and Craig Claiborne and relate to her transformation from rule-follower to relaxed cook once she learns to give up neurosis where food is concerned.