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I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections
Unavailable
I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections
Unavailable
I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections
Audiobook3 hours

I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections

Written by Nora Ephron

Narrated by Nora Ephron

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Nora Ephron returns with her first audiobook 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"; "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.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 9, 2010
ISBN9780307879226
Unavailable
I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections

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Reviews for I Remember Nothing

Rating: 3.5614657404255317 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

423 ratings45 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very similar to I Feel Bad About My Neck, this is an eclectic collection of essays on such subjects as aging, sexism, Christmas dinners, inheritances, Lillian Hellman, Lillian Ross, and of course, divorce. My favorite was the story of her mother's encounter with Lillian Ross.Listening to I Remember Nothing was a little like enjoying a long NPR segment, one of the "driveway moment" ones, that are touching, often humorous, and oh so true.Contrary to the title and the annoying first few minutes where she recounted things she had purportedly forgotten, Nora Ephron remembers a lot. An entertaining way to spend a few hours and read by the author.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Look, I love Nora Ephron. I love the delicious horror that comes when she explains how she almost didn't finish the script for When Harry Met Sally. I thrill to her funny/scary stories about aging, so much so that I have to stop and remind myself how old I actually am (apparently sixty at heart).
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Nora was a wonderful and witty writer and as an author myself, I respect and admire a lot of her work. I enjoyed this particular piece of work in audiobook form. It's always nice to hear the real author reading their own writing. I especially enjoyed listening about her history and how she came to be was today.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Tags: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Nora Ephron, Reflections, Essays, Growing OlderOverview: This is another classic Nora Ephron piece in which she reflects on different aspects of her life, things that drive her crazy, the struggles of growing older, and a few other small rants that are worth listening to.Highlights: I listened to this on audio read by her, so it was a gem. She’s so witty and incredibly intelligent and I’m more obsessed with her than I was before. There were parts that made me laugh too hard, especially her little rants on not remembering things and people that drive her absolutely crazy. She’s so raw and real about it, and I don’t know what it says about me, a 30-something, that I relate to her so well (her 69-year-old self at the time she wrote this).Pre-Requisites: Just an appreciation for Nora Ephron, and if you don’t have that yet when you pick up the book, you will by the time you’re finished!If you like: dry wit and humor, Nora Ephron, short pieces/reflections, reminiscing on the past, food, real women, quick reads
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    From my Cannonball Read IV Review...

    This is my second Nora Ephron essay collection (again an audio version read by the author). Unfortunately I didn’t not enjoy it as much as her previous effort (I Feel Bad About My Neck), mostly because the essays tended to be shorter, a bit more random, and honestly not as well-written. I recall it starting out fairly strongly, and I was definitely into it for a bit. But in the end, I think my favorite part was how short it was.

    My biggest problem really was in the storytelling, which, now that I see that written out, might kind of the biggest problem one can have with book. My feeling about Nora Ephron in the past has been that she has a great skill in telling ordinary stories in an entertaining and interesting way. Honestly, the only story that has stuck with me since finishing this book a few hours ago is an amusing retelling of how she got pushed out of making Christmas desserts after many years of doing it for the giant family and friend gathering.

    In fact, I had to check out other reviews to be reminded that another essay, about her entrance into the world of journalism, was and interesting read (or listen). I don’t know – sometimes books stick with you. Sometimes they don’t. If you ask me two weeks if I’ve read this book, I might not be able to answer that with any sense of certainty. Which, given the book’s title, is mildly amusing
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5

    In her first essay: "I Remember Nothing" she clearly says: "I have no idea who anyone in People Magazine is". Clearly she's not alone on that boat.... And I certainly do not put that down to the fact that "I Too Remember Nothing (because of my aging brain)".... I certainly can not comprehend her not remembering anything about meeting; Ethel Merman, Benny Goodman, Peter Ustinov, or Cary Grant.

    "Journalism: A Love Story", told of her beginning w/ Newsweek a chauvinistic workplace where women were not allowed to write, but blamed for all writers' & editors' mistakes...and how she went on to work for the Post. More women worked at the Post as writers than in all of the other New York papers combined.

    "The Legend" is about her mother the Goddess, her mother's alcoholism and her attempt to return her mother to the Goddess.... It's about her mother having the nerve to ask a very well known journalist to leave her house at a notable dinner party due to an insult.

    This is the first I've read by Nora Ephron, but not the first I've heard of her.... I have seen her movies. I like this book, I like the short stories...they are intimate but not so long winded that there is the writer's egotism in your face or that one should become bored and exclaim "So what!"
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm not quite sure why this is categorized as Humor. There seemed to be more sadness permeating the pages than anything else. Despite the sadness, I enjoyed listening to Nora's reflections. This isn't a book that I need to have on my shelves, but it was a good listen and I would recommend it to those who have enjoyed Nora's other work.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Funny, accessible, lovely easy reading for anyone interested in film / writing / getting older! Definitely a loan book - too much fun not to share.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sparkling with sassy wit and self-deprecation, amuse-bouches from the New York of some era just out of reach. As crisp as a dry martini. As plenteous as an over-sharing friend.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Listened to it and it was okay, but easily forgotten
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was an absolute fun read. Nora's voice rang out in this (what do you call it? memoir?. Very relatable, enjoyable book. Just reading these little snippets makes me wish I had met her, I know she would make a great friend.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A collection of humorous essays about aging, careers, love, friendship, marriage, divorce and food. The author's voice is the perfect accompaniment to her dry prose and made me giggle-snort several times.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I Remember Nothing, by Nora Ephron, is a collection of twenty-three personal reflections that address the many aspects of aging with insight and wit. The challenges of new technology, a failing memory and the passing of family members are poignant and relatable. While the piece, Journalism – A Love Story, is a pocket history of the demise of the industry, it’s also a glory-days story, the kind we all love to tell about when we were in our prime and things were different–meaning better. Other topics discussed include humorous personal peccadilloes and relationships; the temporary, the enduring, how some flourish with time, whiles others become unsustainable.If you’re honest, and of a certain age, you’ll agree there’s not one good thing to be said about getting old, including admitting to it. In this short book, Nora Ephron faces it head-on and her courage and honesty are an inspiration to this aging reader/writer.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    It probably isn?t fair of me to criticize this book, since its genre is one that I?m predisposed not to like: semi-humorous reflections on the banalities of life, with an occasional recipe thrown in for good measure. I read it only because it was the selection for my neighborhood book club. And it didn?t change my opinion of the genre. The book has some poignant moments, in particular near the end where the 69-year Ephron comtemplates the fact that she has only a relatively short time left and lists the things she?ll miss and the things she won?t. (As it turns out, she died less than two years after the book?s publication. ) But overall, Ephron?s essays on meatloaf and Teflon and the way her hair twist up in the back just struck me as insubstantial and not that interesting.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    It probably isn’t fair of me to criticize this book, since its genre is one that I’m predisposed not to like: semi-humorous reflections on the banalities of life, with an occasional recipe thrown in for good measure. I read it only because it was the selection for my neighborhood book club. And it didn’t change my opinion of the genre. The book has some poignant moments, in particular near the end where the 69-year Ephron comtemplates the fact that she has only a relatively short time left and lists the things she’ll miss and the things she won’t. (As it turns out, she died less than two years after the book’s publication. ) But overall, Ephron’s essays on meatloaf and Teflon and the way her hair twist up in the back just struck me as insubstantial and not that interesting.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A good read. I love her humor.Very quick read too! The last section of the book was bittersweet since she is no longer with us. Her "what i'll miss and what I won't miss" sections are interesting.Has me thinking about my own list.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    “On some level, my life has been wasted on me. After all, if I can’t remember it, who can? The past is slipping away and the present is a constant affront.”I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections, Ephron’s last essay collection published before her death in 2012, touches on the tragedy of aging and is probably not something that I could fully appreciate only being in my 30s (but I still loved it). She discusses becoming forgetful, about physical changes, but she touches on stories from her life that she has managed to remember in vibrant detail. She also includes several recipes, in particular, one for ricotta pancakes in an essay about Teflon (which is far more riveting than it sounds at first glance.) She bemoans the discovery of the hazards of Teflon since her ricotta pancakes never come out quite the same in any other pan and in the recipe, instructs you to heat up a Teflon pan until carcinogenic gas is released into the air. I will always adore her wit though and her random stories that may seem inconsequential but are just anecdotes into the life of a pretty extraordinary sounding woman. Reading her discussion on the personal tragedy that led to her only fiction novel, Heartburn, was emotional.“I mention all this so you will understand that this is part of the process: once you find out he’s cheated on you, you have to keep finding it out, over and over and over again, until you’ve degraded yourself so completely that there’s nothing left to do but walk out.”You can tell when she writes that it’s old news, but it’s still something that managed to transform her into who she is today, leaving that unseen yet indelible impression.“People always say that once it goes away, you forget the pain. It’s a cliché of childbirth: you forget the pain. I don’t happen to agree. I remember the pain. What you really forget is love.”It will be a sad day when I no longer have any new Nora to read. The Most of Nora Ephron will be my last so I’m saving that one for a rainy day.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I so enjoyed this audio book (read by author Nora Ephron). Funny, interesting, and insightful. I just love Nora!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Oh Nora. How I love you. In much the same vein as I Feel Bad About My Neck, which I read last year, this is a loosely-linked collection of wryly humorous sketches and vignettes, of various lengths, about family and getting older and life in New York. It's not hysterically funny, it's not deeply profound, it's not life-changingly memorable - but it is warm and real and lovely to read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Nora Ephron, screenwriter of “When Harry Met Sally” and “You’ve Got Mail” has written a few memoirs over the years. This one dwells on a few thoughts towards the end of her life. She talks about getting older, how things have changed, etc. Ephron’s meandering essays are steeped in her recognizable sense of humor. My favorite part was a list of things she will and won’t miss when she’s gone.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was perfect to listen to while driving to work. Her short essays range from being a female in the early 60's working for Newsweek to reflections about her parents to a really funny story about the dessert spoon. this one really hit home with me. Why do we have a huge dessert spoon when it would be so much nicer to take small bites.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Gobbled this down in one evening. Loved the stories, and the sense of "I know that feeling." Nora Ephron was a funny, insightful lady.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I Remember Nothing is narrated by Nora Ephron herself - so given her recent passing, hearing her distinctive voice is kind of bittersweet at first.

    Jarring, even.

    But the humor more than makes up for it, of course, and listening to this three CD recording is like listening to an old friend (or a new one who feels like an old friend). In this audiobook, Ephron peppers her personal essays with phrases such as "I have to tell you," and "I am not proud of this."

    I Remember Nothing almost has the feeling of being two books in one. The first part is Nora recounting all the everyday as well as significant and historical happenings in her life that she can't remember or may only remember trivial details of.

    And we're talking MAJOR events. Things like meeting Eleanor Roosevelt, being outside the White House on the evening Nixon resigned, and covering the Beatles as they performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.

    "On some level, my life has been wasted on me. After all, if I can't remember it, who can?" she says.

    These recollections (or, what Ephron can recall about them) are among the best part of I Remember Nothing. The rest is more along the lines of reflections and musings on various topics such as divorce, email (a section that feels a little dated), thinning hair, and other vestiges of growing older. The essay about having a meatloaf named after her in a restaurant is especially well-done, and there's a poignant story about her plans for a potential inheritance from an uncle that will resonate with every writer. (Ephron was struggling with a screenplay at the time and the windfall from the uncle would have made that go away. We would have also not have had one of our most classic movies.)

    There is a passage about her being on her deathbed, which is just downright eerie now. And the ending of I Remember Nothing, two lists of "What I Won't Miss" and "What I Will Miss" (after she has gone) is bittersweet and prompts a bit of reflection on what one will miss (and not miss) of one's own life.

    Still, at the risk of seeming to speaking ill of the dead, I Remember Nothing feels a little ... disjointed. If you're familiar with Ephron's movies and her writing, you won't find much new ground here. What you will find is Ephron's trademark snark and sardonic wit, some good entertainment and laughs if you're in a bit of a funk and need a quick hit of humor to relieve you ... and an ironic, bittersweet reminder that despite her feeling of growing old, Ephron really wasn't as old as she thought she was.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed it. Yes, it's light and short, and yes, there is more profound writing out there. But sometimes it's fun to read humorous little stories about meatloaf or Lillian Hellman. And when you're in the mood for that lighter fare, you can read Mindy Kaling's book, and you can read Nora Ephron's "I Feel Bad About My Neck" and "I Remember Nothing." And they will be enjoyable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Having read a couple other books by her, I wanted to read this. It was sad because I know that she wrote this while she was dying. Still it had her usual humor and although not all of the essays worked, it was worthwhile as a short quick read. For those who haven't read her other essays I strongly suggest them. We need more clever humorous writers to help bring a smile and a laugh to our daily lives. Nothing wrong with that.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is Ephron's last book, a collection of essays, most of which had been printed elsewhere. I haven't read much of her stuff; there is a recollection stuck in my head that I read something of hers once and didn't like it, but I can't elaborate any further than that. I'm not even sure how this ended up on my shelf to start with, but it won the lottery for the next "kitchen book" so I read it. I really enjoyed it. I could relate to so many things in her essays, and some of them had me laughing out loud. When I read the last two chapters, titled "What I Won't Miss" and "What I Will Miss," I remembered that she had died this year, and it made me sad. Still, an enjoyable book, and recommended for a light & amusing read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    It probably isn’t fair of me to criticize this book, since its genre is one that I’m predisposed not to like: semi-humorous reflections on the banalities of life, with an occasional recipe thrown in for good measure. I read it only because it was the selection for my neighborhood book club. And it didn’t change my opinion of the genre. The book has some poignant moments, in particular near the end where the 69-year Ephron comtemplates the fact that she has only a relatively short time left and lists the things she’ll miss and the things she won’t. (As it turns out, she died less than two years after the book’s publication. ) But overall, Ephron’s essays on meatloaf and Teflon and the way her hair twist up in the back just struck me as insubstantial and not that interesting.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well worth reading, funny, and true to life.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    There's one really good essay in this--the one about how she falls in love with journalism. All the rest seemed kind of throwaway to me, I didn't feel she had anything new to say.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Ephron has exhausted readers' patience with this phony book. What were the editor and publisher thinking? Was there an editor?I borrowed this from the library, where it was on display, and I'm still embarrassed to say I read most of it. It must have taken me 30 minutes.The essay on her start in journalism is well written and witty, but haven't I read it before in one of her oldest books? Perhaps I'm thinking of a profile of the female publisher of the NY Post.Was she ever really a journalist? That is, was she ever capable of writing about something other than herself? The evidence here is not pretty.