Mother’s Day Book (May 13):Not Aging Gracefully But With Good Humor

          No, I am not a woman nor am I feeling bad about my neck. So, why do I have a book by Nora Ephron, who is the 65 year old script writer and director of "You've Got Mail?"? It is because I have to admit that good writing is simply good. Nora's essays have a penchant for sincerity that hooks with comedic timing. As you read her works, you learn that her words usually weave together towards an unexpected punchline that make you start chuckling as she rants away about having children, her messy purse, her fictional relationship with culinary book authors and even her inevitable death. The topics and the title in itself are misleading because you think they would appeal to tastes of women who are almost pushing daisies. However, her voice is so honest that you are drawn to her world by the universality of her experience. You forget that you are sharing a moment with someone twice or thrice your age because she talks about common concerns such as vanity and other human obsessions. I think what makes her unique over the fact that she articulates so well is her gutsy writing. It is soo honest that you wish you had the courage to say what she said and say it first.

   It is difficult to catch this rhythm in one's writing and is best learned by tasting a bit of it like the one below.

 Excerpt of Blind as A Bat, thoughts on having poor eyesight and reading:

       Reading is one of the main things I do. Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it's a way of making contact with someone's else's imagination after a day that's all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss. But my ability to pick something up and read it - which has gone unchecked all my life up until now-  is now entirely dependent on the whereabouts of my reading glasses.

   
       Wasn't that effortlessly captivating? I wish I wrote something similar to that. Oh well, I guess I just have to tag Nora's book under the category of book love or what she calls "Rapture" where I will inhabit her world for a few days until I find another. I don't know how long I will stay there so I just have to say "Ciao!"

Trivia:

Excerpts of Her List Called "What I Wish I'd Know" That I Definitely Agree With

You never know.

Write everything down.

Take more pictures.

If the shoe doesn't fit in the shoe store, it's never going to fit.

If only one third of your clothes are mistakes, you're ahead of the game.

If friends ask you to be their child's guardian in case they die in plane crash, you can say no.

There are no secrets.
 

Author: Nora Ephron

Author's Blog: Nora Ephron @ Huffington Post

Book Website: I Feel Bad About My Neck

- Contains a E-Card of Excerpts from Her Essays. 

Price: Php 839.00

   Release: Available Now!*

According to my mom, she recommended to her friends and is currently sold out. You can order it in advance so it reaches the Philippines by Mother's Day.