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Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously
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The bestselling memoir that's "irresistible....A kind of Bridget Jones meets The French Chef" (Philadelphia Inquirer) that inspired Julie & Julia, the major motion picture directed by Nora Ephron, starring Amy Adams as Julie and Meryl Streep as Julia.
Nearing 30 and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, Julie Powell reclaims her life by cooking every single recipe in Juli ...more
Nearing 30 and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, Julie Powell reclaims her life by cooking every single recipe in Juli ...more
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Paperback, 307 pages
Published
September 7th 2006
by Back Bay Books
(first published September 1st 2005)
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Showing 1-30

Start your review of Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously

it seemed so simple, and so brilliant and so the perfect type of book for me, i remember thinking as i perused--i forget what, probably the new york times--and saw a reference to julie powell's julie and julia project.
a woman who dedicated her year to learning how to cook.
like me. i hoped for inspiration--for my writing, for my cooking, for ideas that i could incorporate into both.
i immediately ordered a copy. or maybe i went straight to borders after work. i started reading the night i got it. ...more
a woman who dedicated her year to learning how to cook.
like me. i hoped for inspiration--for my writing, for my cooking, for ideas that i could incorporate into both.
i immediately ordered a copy. or maybe i went straight to borders after work. i started reading the night i got it. ...more

I can see how this book was a successful blog. It's more a series of snacks than a grand a la carte meal in a French restaurant. The author's endless repetition of her hatred for Republicans, her job as a secretary and the use of her favourite words fuck and suck, neither of them used sexually, probably give you the flavour of this slight one-note book. A snarky, sarky, endlessly-whining personality that is amusing to read on a daily blog, gets a bit much in a full-length book. Reading it is a b
...more

Author Julia Powell is a mix of many people. From page one, when she tells us she sold her own eggs to pay off credit debt, she is much like the dreaded person seated next to you on a long-haul flight that proceeds to tell you their life story in a matter of minutes. She is also the TMI girl that we all know, whose narrative describes the smell of her burps and piss, bitches incessantly about her job and Republicans, describes smelly cocks, drinks too many cocktails, tells us she sleeps with her
...more

In the immortal words of Michael Bluth: "I don't know what I expected."
I knew what I was getting into with this, I really did. It is a well-documented fact that Julie Powell is a delusional asshole (if you need a good laugh, look at the reviews for Cleaving, her second book - they all essentially boil down to "Wow, so turns out Julie Powell is horrible"), and even if I hadn't been aware of this, there's the fact that whenever I watch the movie adaptation of Julie and Julia, I skip the Julie part ...more
I knew what I was getting into with this, I really did. It is a well-documented fact that Julie Powell is a delusional asshole (if you need a good laugh, look at the reviews for Cleaving, her second book - they all essentially boil down to "Wow, so turns out Julie Powell is horrible"), and even if I hadn't been aware of this, there's the fact that whenever I watch the movie adaptation of Julie and Julia, I skip the Julie part ...more

I love the concept, I really do; not so much the finished product.
Had she not made the fuuny reference to my favorite line in Casablanca near the begininning of the book, I never would have been able to finish it. The thought of finding another gem like that made me stick with it even when I wanted to throw Julie out of a twenty-story window. The whiny, self-absorbed, melodramtic, narcissistic, trite (yet on occasion deliciously funny) Julie Powell decides to take up a project to add meaning to ...more
Had she not made the fuuny reference to my favorite line in Casablanca near the begininning of the book, I never would have been able to finish it. The thought of finding another gem like that made me stick with it even when I wanted to throw Julie out of a twenty-story window. The whiny, self-absorbed, melodramtic, narcissistic, trite (yet on occasion deliciously funny) Julie Powell decides to take up a project to add meaning to ...more

Completely and utterly disappointing.
I was so in love with the idea that Julie came up with: to recreate each of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I never had read her blog before, and my expectations for the book were high.
Unfortunately, Julie is a completely repulsive, unappealing and vulgar human being. Her self-deprecating - humor, was it? - didn't make me find her charmingly witty; rather, I just believed what she was telling me and decided that she was i ...more
I was so in love with the idea that Julie came up with: to recreate each of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I never had read her blog before, and my expectations for the book were high.
Unfortunately, Julie is a completely repulsive, unappealing and vulgar human being. Her self-deprecating - humor, was it? - didn't make me find her charmingly witty; rather, I just believed what she was telling me and decided that she was i ...more

Apr 22, 2008
Jonathan
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
time-i-wish-i-had-back,
food
I read The Scavengers Guide to Haute Cuisine, and I really liked it. I figured this book would be along the same lines. Yeah, well, it wasn't. Instead of a book about cooking, it was a book about a whiny, pseudo-intellectual woman who tries to cook because her life is otherwise crappy. Please tell me how cooking an entire Julia Child cookbook will improve your life. Actually, don't, because that is the premise for this book and it sucked.
Oh, and reading about her husband was cringe-worthy. This ...more
Oh, and reading about her husband was cringe-worthy. This ...more

Oh Jesus. Bear with me because this is going to be long.
Mrs. Julie Powell. The woman, the legend. The horror tale. The first thing you have to know about her is; she's not like other women, she reads books. According to that logic, this entire website constitutes an anomaly in the Venn diagram of women everywhere, so take that as you will.
She's one of the most self-absorbed people I've ever had the displeasure of coming in contact with - and on top of that she's a disgusting slob. Powell repeate ...more
Mrs. Julie Powell. The woman, the legend. The horror tale. The first thing you have to know about her is; she's not like other women, she reads books. According to that logic, this entire website constitutes an anomaly in the Venn diagram of women everywhere, so take that as you will.
She's one of the most self-absorbed people I've ever had the displeasure of coming in contact with - and on top of that she's a disgusting slob. Powell repeate ...more

A DISTASTEFUL BOOK FROM AN OBNOXIOUS WOMAN WHO SHOULD BE OFFICIALLY BANNED FROM ANY KITCHEN INCLUDING HER OWN.
I saw the lovely film before reading the book (or trying to read it anyway) & I could not understand why Julia Child did not want to meet Julie Powell...
Now I know & agree completely: I would/do not want to meet her either.
Her / the book's only merit is her apparent honesty, though the fact that she thinks this kind of honesty is witty and hilarious as opposed to vulgar and cringeworth ...more
I saw the lovely film before reading the book (or trying to read it anyway) & I could not understand why Julia Child did not want to meet Julie Powell...
Now I know & agree completely: I would/do not want to meet her either.
Her / the book's only merit is her apparent honesty, though the fact that she thinks this kind of honesty is witty and hilarious as opposed to vulgar and cringeworth ...more

There are some inspired moments in Julie Powell’s memoir of the year she spent cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Powell can be a very funny writer, and the book is sprinkled with abundant samples of the snarky wit that no doubt made the blog on which this book was based so popular. Her topic is certainly a rich one—the processes of making gelatin from actual calves’ feet or flaying a lobster alive while feeling a generous dose of liberal guilt certainl
...more

Dec 21, 2007
Christine
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who truly love food and no one else
I think there's an unfortunate trend that people follow these days, particularly women, to verbally criticize themselves in a hyper self-aware manner, as if recounting all of their faults (real or imagined)will not only amuse the listener, but prove that they are stoic-even good humored-about being the biggest, fattest, ugliest, ding battiest failures to ever grace the earth.
"Doesn't he get it? Doesn't he understand that if I don't get through the whole book in a year then this whole thing will ...more
"Doesn't he get it? Doesn't he understand that if I don't get through the whole book in a year then this whole thing will ...more

Mar 05, 2009
D
rated it
it was ok
Recommends it for:
fans of chick lit, fans of self-flagellation, fans of maggots
Recommended to D by:
Janet
Julie disappointed me. Her tone was tired (I've rassled too many self-loathing Gen Xers who think that airing their dirty laundry is fresh and shocking; it's not; ever heard of reality TV? it's merely degrading; if it's dime-store therapy you're seeking via the blogosphere, good luck getting stable, coherent advice from your comments section). Additionally, she thought insulting her husband was funny, admitting to maggots under her dish drainer a good romp, and marital infidelity blase'. I have
...more

The book is written by Julie Powell, about her 1 year self-imposed challenge to cook everything in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of Fine Cooking. The project was motivated by feeling stuck in her job (a low level drone in a government office) as well as rebellion towards the whole Alice Waters, locovore, trendy foodie things. I instantly connected with the author – she was a Buffy the Vampire fan (the blog was going on during the last season), found the act of preparing food very sensual, and
...more

May 30, 2021
Rachel (TheShadesofOrange)
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
memoirs,
audiobooks
3.5 Stars
This is one of those rare cases where the movie adaptation is actually better than the source material. The actual Julie Powell comes across as rather unlikeable in her memoir. I'd recommend sticking to the movie, unless you are really curious to see the true story. ...more
This is one of those rare cases where the movie adaptation is actually better than the source material. The actual Julie Powell comes across as rather unlikeable in her memoir. I'd recommend sticking to the movie, unless you are really curious to see the true story. ...more

Mar 24, 2008
JSou
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mmmmm-food,
biographies-memoirs
I must've really needed this kind of book right about now. I bought it about a year ago when I saw it on the B&N clearance table, but then shelved it. I've actually been hearing a lot about it lately (I'm sure because of the upcoming film), so I figured I'd give it a shot.
I loved this. I really couldn't put it down. Reading through the author's experiences as she cooks through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking reminded me of how delicious and sometimes therapeutic cooking a home- ...more
I loved this. I really couldn't put it down. Reading through the author's experiences as she cooks through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking reminded me of how delicious and sometimes therapeutic cooking a home- ...more

Julia was a goddess among women. Julie...not so much.

I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I love the concept- the story of the author working her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking one recipe at a time, skipping nothing. At its root it's a true life adventure- something I can experience vicariously.
On the other hand, sometimes the execution is flawed. (I *really* didn't want to know about the maggot infestation in the author's kitchen, I know my kitchen isn't perfectly hygenic. But maggots under the dish drai ...more
On the other hand, sometimes the execution is flawed. (I *really* didn't want to know about the maggot infestation in the author's kitchen, I know my kitchen isn't perfectly hygenic. But maggots under the dish drai ...more

This is the fourth time I've read this book. I've seen the movie at least that many times, maybe more. Does it need any more to recommend it? All I will say is some people love it and some people hate it. Not too hard to see which side I fall on.
1/22/2021: Everybody has comfort foods. I have comfort books. This is one of them. When the world around me is chaotic, I dive into a comfort book.
9/21/2021: Never dreamed I would need comfort again so soon. In some ways, 2021 is actually worse than 2020 ...more
1/22/2021: Everybody has comfort foods. I have comfort books. This is one of them. When the world around me is chaotic, I dive into a comfort book.
9/21/2021: Never dreamed I would need comfort again so soon. In some ways, 2021 is actually worse than 2020 ...more

Saw the movie - had to read the book. So far, I have my reservations, but I'm not very far in yet.
I read a few more chapters and gave up. The author rambles - and not in a good way. I could not work up any interest in the folks in the book - just didn't care what they did next. Combine that with the author's potty mouth, and it's back to the Library to find a book worth reading - maybe Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.
This is one of those rare examples of the movie being a lot ...more
I read a few more chapters and gave up. The author rambles - and not in a good way. I could not work up any interest in the folks in the book - just didn't care what they did next. Combine that with the author's potty mouth, and it's back to the Library to find a book worth reading - maybe Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.
This is one of those rare examples of the movie being a lot ...more

What a disapointment. I thought it would be a fun read, someone working through a life crisis by cooking their way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 1, but I threw the book in the trash after reading the first few chapters and thumbing through the rest. The profanity, baseness and the f-bombs are inappropriate and don't add anything to the content.
...more

I finally read this book and I am so very grateful for it, and for my improving English and ability to listen to audiobooks while doing chores or loading the dishwasher.
I wanna make my husband read this book, if I get married at some point.
This is more than a book about a cookbook, it's about taking chances and believing that you can do a year-long project, a reminder how it's good to have a loving family and a nice husband, most importantly it's about how good fortune comes in unexpected ways. ...more
I wanna make my husband read this book, if I get married at some point.
This is more than a book about a cookbook, it's about taking chances and believing that you can do a year-long project, a reminder how it's good to have a loving family and a nice husband, most importantly it's about how good fortune comes in unexpected ways. ...more

Jan 31, 2021
Sheree | Keeping Up With The Penguins
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
My review of Julie & Julia can be found in full on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
I liked it. Sure, Powell’s snarky sense of humour and tendency towards histrionics won’t be to everyone’s taste, but what is? Julie And Julia is a good, quick read that – if you’re anything like me – will inspire you to pick up the tongs instead of ordering UberEats for the fourth night in a row. If it doesn’t sound like it’s up your alley, that’s fine, because I’m going to share with you the single most important ta ...more
I liked it. Sure, Powell’s snarky sense of humour and tendency towards histrionics won’t be to everyone’s taste, but what is? Julie And Julia is a good, quick read that – if you’re anything like me – will inspire you to pick up the tongs instead of ordering UberEats for the fourth night in a row. If it doesn’t sound like it’s up your alley, that’s fine, because I’m going to share with you the single most important ta ...more

Julie Powell was a 29 year-old temp living in the outer boroughs and suffering from late-20s ennui and the kind of despair that comes from hating your career and thinking you should have done more with yourself by now. To give herself a goal - something I can very much sympathize with - she decided she would make all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. She also started a blog to chronicle her (mis)adventures. This book is an outgrowth of that experience.
...more

I have wanted to see the movie, Julie and Julia since it was released. I have not yet seen it. To be honest I had no idea what the movie was even about except for the fact it was in some way about Julia Child. I have adored Julia Child for a very long time so this is why I was drawn to the movie trailer. I am a red seal chef so there is another attraction right there. This book, I was not aware even existed till a few weeks ago. So I guess all can see the connection I would quite obviously have
...more

Jan 08, 2008
Wendy
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
foodies, peole who need a good laugh or a little inspiration
In order to give her life some definition,(and blinders to the onset of her 30th birthday) Julie Powell decides to cook every recipe from Julia Child's, Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume One, within one year. She cooks everything from tarts to cow brains in her tiny New York apartment. The book reminded me of Bridget Jones meets, well, Julia Child. It is funny, interesting, and a little inspirational. She is candid with her personal life as well as with the results of what became the Ju
...more

To me this is a book about finding sanity in structure. Julie doesn't know what to do with her life, so she manufactures a project...
By completing at least one new recipe a day, and blogging about it, she finds herself so consumed that she has little time to obsess about her dead-end job, and her possible infertility.
It reminds me a lot of "Rosemary Goes to the Mall," a podcast in which an art instructor makes a project of shopping from and getting a bag from every store in the Mall of America.. ...more
By completing at least one new recipe a day, and blogging about it, she finds herself so consumed that she has little time to obsess about her dead-end job, and her possible infertility.
It reminds me a lot of "Rosemary Goes to the Mall," a podcast in which an art instructor makes a project of shopping from and getting a bag from every store in the Mall of America.. ...more

Dec 26, 2019
Ieva Andriuskeviciene
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audio-books
One of those books when movie is like thousands of times better. Not that much cooking, loads of pointless swearing and sex. She is just egocentric disrespectful sad woman. I wonder how she was not fired while badmouthing her bosses in government paid job everyday in her blog. No wonder that real Julia Child wanted to do nothing with her.
Book was read by the Powell herself which was not good at all. It made the main character even more unsympathetic
Do not recommend reading or listening to it,be ...more
Book was read by the Powell herself which was not good at all. It made the main character even more unsympathetic
Do not recommend reading or listening to it,be ...more

Aug 17, 2009
Mir
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
New Yorkers, food snobs
Recommended to Mir by:
First Reads
Shelves:
culinary
I wanted to like this but Julie Powell just wouldn't let me. Her constant whining and neurotic, self-absorbed personality so grated on me that they undermined the aspects of the book that did appeal to me: cooking and humor. I don't even want to see the movie after reading this, although I do still want to read My Life in France.
...more

Onvan : Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living - Nevisande : Julie Powell - ISBN : 031610969X - ISBN13 : 9780316109697 - Dar 310 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2005

For a few months there, it seemed like everyone was reading this book. Then, just as suddenly, everyone was going to the movie. And liking it!
I wasn't tempted to do either, and felt a bit out-of-sorts being so out of vogue. Still, I knew I didn't care to read about a woman who had tried all of Julia Child's recipes found in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Frankly, french cooking turns me off and besides watching Dan Aykroyd satire Julia Child on Saturday Night Live, I didn't really know ...more
I wasn't tempted to do either, and felt a bit out-of-sorts being so out of vogue. Still, I knew I didn't care to read about a woman who had tried all of Julia Child's recipes found in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Frankly, french cooking turns me off and besides watching Dan Aykroyd satire Julia Child on Saturday Night Live, I didn't really know ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Play Book Tag: (Listopia) Julie and Julia by Julie Powell 3 stars | 12 | 25 | Mar 10, 2018 06:48PM | |
La Stamberga dei ...: Dal libro al film: Julie&Julia | 3 | 19 | Aug 26, 2014 05:15AM | |
La Stamberga dei ...: Julie & Julia di Julie Powell | 1 | 10 | Aug 22, 2014 02:58AM | |
Food and Fiction.: Julie and Julia. Which is better, the book or the film? | 10 | 61 | Dec 17, 2013 11:05AM | |
im inspired! | 22 | 122 | Jan 23, 2013 02:23PM |
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Julie Powell was born and raised in Austin, Texas, where she first fell in love with cooking — and her husband, Eric. She is the author of a cooking memoir, Julie & Julia, which was released in 2005. Her writing has appeared in Bon Appétit, The New York Times, House Beautiful, and Archaeology Magazine, among others. She lives in Long Island City, Queens.
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“But the not-very-highbrow truth of the matter was that the reading was how I got my ya-yas out.
For the sake of my bookish reputation I upgraded to Tolstoy and Steinbeck before I understood them, but my dark secret was that really, I preferred the junk. The Dragonriders of Pern, Flowers in the Attic, The Clan of the Cave Bear. This stuff was like my stash of Playboys under the mattress.”
—
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For the sake of my bookish reputation I upgraded to Tolstoy and Steinbeck before I understood them, but my dark secret was that really, I preferred the junk. The Dragonriders of Pern, Flowers in the Attic, The Clan of the Cave Bear. This stuff was like my stash of Playboys under the mattress.”
“The nice thing about having a friend who is crazier than you are is that she bolsters your belief in your own sanity.”
—
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