Several months ago, I bought my Mom the book "I feel bad about my neck" by Nora Ephron. Not because I think my Mom has a neck that she should be ashamed of. But because the book made me laugh out loud while thumbing through the pages. And I'm not even the target market.
Nora (I say "Nora" as if we're on a first-name basis. You know... Nor and I... we're tight) writes things like:
"Sometimes I go out to lunch with my girlfriends - I got that far into the sentence and caught myself. I suppose I mean my women friends. We are no longer girls and have not been girls for forty years. Anyway, sometimes we go out to lunch and I look around the table and realize we're all wearing turtleneck sweaters. Sometimes, instead, we're all wearing scarves, like Katherine Hepburn in On Golden Pond. Sometimes we're all wearing mandarin collars and look like a white ladies' version of Joy Luck Club... Oh, the necks. 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..."
I could go on and on, quoting Nora and her funny, sarcastic, natural and friendly writing. She takes the topic of aging and doesn't use any old, tired gags to make it fresh and hilarious.
I strive to be like Nora one day. Not to have Nora's neck, of course. But, to be able to write a funny, relatable book that lots of people want to buy.
Nora (I say "Nora" as if we're on a first-name basis. You know... Nor and I... we're tight) writes things like:
"Sometimes I go out to lunch with my girlfriends - I got that far into the sentence and caught myself. I suppose I mean my women friends. We are no longer girls and have not been girls for forty years. Anyway, sometimes we go out to lunch and I look around the table and realize we're all wearing turtleneck sweaters. Sometimes, instead, we're all wearing scarves, like Katherine Hepburn in On Golden Pond. Sometimes we're all wearing mandarin collars and look like a white ladies' version of Joy Luck Club... Oh, the necks. 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..."
I could go on and on, quoting Nora and her funny, sarcastic, natural and friendly writing. She takes the topic of aging and doesn't use any old, tired gags to make it fresh and hilarious.
I strive to be like Nora one day. Not to have Nora's neck, of course. But, to be able to write a funny, relatable book that lots of people want to buy.
Is it just me, or is my daughter not the best writer? I see myself in Starbucks picking up a copy of her latest novel and telling everyone around me, that's my daughter!
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