Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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107 of 116 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I really enjoyed Julie & Julia., March 31, 2007
A friend of mine lent me Julie & Julia at a point when I needed something to cheer me up. I have to admit that few things make me more suspicious than a book that derived from a blog. I also have a pretty low tolerance for chick lit in general, and this smelled like chick lit to me.
But anyhow. Despite going into the book with poor expectations, I was pleasantly surprised. I found it well-written and it felt honest. It had several laugh-out-loud moments. Best of all, I found myself genuinely liking the narrator/author. It was good fun. And that was exactly what I wanted it to be.
Although you can get some foodie kicks from Julie & Julia, it is not really about food. Do not read the book if you are looking for technical details, deep reflection about Julia Childs and French cooking, or kitchen tips and tricks. It is not that kind of book. Think light read with cooking as a kind of character quest.
One quarrel-- in her author's note Powell declares that "sometimes she just makes stuff up". That made me less comfortable with the book, honestly. As a memoir it has a lot of charm. As a novel, it has much less interest. I am not sure why that should be the case, but it took a little bit of the shine off for me to see that note at the beginning.
Anyhow. If, like me, you are looking for some cheering up then this could be a book for you. Bonus points if you find yourself an urbanite with a foodie-wannabee cooking habit, because then the funny parts are going to be even funnier. I had to wince when remembering some of my own attempts at homemade mayonnaise. Recommended.
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144 of 166 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Powell's Souffle Falls Flat, June 23, 2009
Many a blog turned book falls into the "nothing new" trap; what we get on paper is just a reproduction of what we got on the screen. In her attempt to escape this pitfall, Julie Powell goes to the opposite extreme and tries to do way too much. The premise lured me in: approaching 30 and flitting from one temp job to the next, Powell attempts to do the improbable, tackle all of the 524 recipes found in the first volume of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in one calendar year. What could have been an interesting story of using a culinary challenge to provide structure and direction to an otherwise chaotic New York lifestyle turns into a book with an identity crisis. Part memoir about family and friends and life in New York, part story of getting closer to Julia Child through her iconic cookbook, part recounting the blogging experience near the time of its inception, part fictional re-imagining of the relationship between Paul and Julia Child - the book felt like a shouting match between styles and genres each fighting fiercely for attention.
Was the book diverting? Yes, and sometimes it was hilarious. However, there are a number of books out there that successfully do what Powell is attempting here. If you have your heart set on reading this book, go for it. However, I would also like to offer the following recommendations depending on what drove you to look at this book up in the first place:
If you are interested in Julia Child and how she (and others) have influenced American cuisine, I suggest The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution.
If you are looking for a food memoir, someone learning about cuisine to better understand themselves and a culture, try Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China.
If New York is the draw, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise is written by the former restaurant critic of The New York Times and includes stories of restaurants (with reviews), home cooking, and some tempting recipes.
If you are looking for great, laugh out loud memoir that actually pulls off the blog-to-book transition, but does not have much to do with food, pick up Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office
There has been a huge surge in the publication of food-related books over the past few years and many of them are excellent, but "Julie and Julia" is just not one of them.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Joy of Cooking, Julie/Julia style, May 4, 2009
I've been a Julia Child fan for a long time, so when I stumbled on this book (I'm behind the literary times here; I know it's been out for a while, and her blog was written years ago), I was skeptical. I thought it sounded gimmicky. But thanks to the free sample option on my kindle, I read the beginning of the book. And I loved it! So I downloaded it and absolutely devoured the rest of it in a matter of hours, and there was nothing my newborn or my two year old (or my husband, for that matter) could do to stop me.
Now, you have to know what this book is, and what it is not. It's not a rehashing of JC's recipes, or an assessment whether the author succeeded or failed in her attempts to make all 524 recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. It's not a paean to Julia Child, or to french cooking in general, or an attempt by the author to toot her own horn over her culinary skills (except for the deboned duck, which was well warranted); after reading about her filthy kitchen, as a matter of fact, I'm not sure ANYONE should eat Julie Powell's cooking, french or not. What this book is, is a memoir by a young woman lost and full of no small amount of despair in her everyday life. And she found purpose and enthusiasm for her life thanks to Julia Child. Does that sound hokey? Maybe. But Julie Powell pulls it off, and she does it in a damn funny and engaging way. Her voice is fresh and real; she sounds just like who she is: an almost 30-something. She swears; she's irreverent; she throws tantrums not unlike the ones I wanted to throw when I was her age.
Some reviewers have objected to her language, but balls to that. And some have said she is disrespectful towards Republicans and about 9/11. She certainly is bitter and ascerbic towards the GOP and its supporters, and when you put this in historical context, it makes absolute sense, especially for her age group. On the matter of 9/11, I think that's just over it. She's a New Yorker; she lived it, and continued to have to face the repercussions of it every day thanks to the job that she had. She just doesn't have the reverence for 9/11 that so many do - and I think that it's justified. In any case, it's a small part of the book. Another reviewer says that they walked away feeling that Julie didn't even like Julia Child. This reviewer must not have read the book, or at least very much of it, because it's very, very clear throughout that Julie admires and even adores Julia, so much so that she basically creates an imaginary friend Julia Child for herself, to keep herself going. I love it. I think its a beautiful tribute to a woman who lived life with verve.
I'm really looking forward to hearing more from this authentic and hilarious author. Way to go, Julie! I hold my vodka gimlet high in your honor!
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