[Scribble Scribble] is saucier than [Tom Wicker's On Press] and more wide-ranging, but not so thoughtful, no doubt because it is briefer, the chapters sketchier. Another problem is that it's a compilation…. Reading the trim, compact chapters is to have the feeling of killing time in a doctor's office….

Whether she realizes it or not, Nora Ephron is short-changing herself. As one of the top female journalists on manners and modes in modern America, Ephron has much to say, and a sizable reading audience to say it to. The question is how long she can hold her book audience with reprinted 1500-word columns. One of these days her audience is going to insist on something more substantive…. (p. 3)