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| Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously | 
 enlarge | Author: Julie Powell
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy Used: $1.93
You Save: $12.06 (86%)
New (61) Used (85) Collectible (1) from $1.93
Avg. Customer Rating:  63 reviews
Sales Rank: 20155
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 0316013269
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5092
EAN: 9780316013260
ASIN: 0316013269
Publication Date: September 7, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Standard used condition.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Tasty! A life that cooks.... January 23, 2008
I was attracted to this book because of the outrageousness of the goal: 564 recipes in 365 days in a tiny apartment kitchen. On the record, I was disappointed that this subtitle was taken out of the paperback edition which I wouldn't have read without the subtitle, but since it was there and I did read it, I can tell you what I think.)
Julie Powell is a woman after my heart. Like me, she was a government drone, thankfully - only temporarily for both of us. She also let herself get sucked into the swirling vortex of a goal that took over her life and drastically impacted the lives of many of the people around her.
This was another part of the appeal. How do we know when we say "Yes" to a zany, seemingly unreachable goal and then begin to march to the drum beat "it" sets? We don't - but we do know, as we are reminded anew from the story of Julie Powell and her menagerie of friends and family members - that this is the "journey" we hear about when it is said, "It isn't the destination, it is the journey."
Our journey through iconic cook books and iconic cook book authors vis a vis a quirky blog-writer. On page 76, Julie writes about her work to get beef marrow into a recipe which tasted, she writes, "like life, well lived."
The universality in that one sentence took me by the heart and said, "Keep reading. Oh, and cook some new recipes, would you? You haven't found one yet that tastes like life, well lived."
Through the book I came to really want the project to be completed and got sort of angry at a point when I thought it was going to be ditched about two months from the end-line. I got so worried, I skipped immediately to the end to see what happened.
Well, I won't spoil it for you here - but I will tell you to read this unique memoir of not just cooking up food, but a memoir of a life that cooks. I hope to find more works by Julie Powell because I find myself still rooting for her.
Go Julie, Go Julie, Go Julie.
 Great escapist entertainment January 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was well written and entertaining. It's too bad that they chose to package it as "chick lit" because it tells a great story that transends gender reading it. It would be interesting even to people who do not cook...
 Total Waste January 9, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was looking forward to this book and, as I was reading it, became increasingly disgusted. Ms. Child was bright, exuberant, gracious, and courageous. Her marriage and friendships were positive and loving. All in all, even apart from her influence on cooking/eating, she was a worthwhile person in every respect.
Ms. Powell is a self-indulgent, whiny, neurotic and colossally boring brat. She treats little annoyances like world disasters, she is a miserable spouse and friend, and she revels in her self-indulgent immaturity. For her to exploit the life/name of Ms. Child is a travesty and it is a shame that she made a dime doing it.
I immediately re-read the wonderful "Appetite for Life" after wading through Ms. Powell's dreck and nothing could have more clearly emphasized what an utter waste Ms. Powell's book was. She expressed dismay that Ms. Child was negative about her blog--my guess is that Ms. Child would have been understandably disgusted with Ms. Powell whatever her topic.
fun book January 7, 2008
i really enjoyed this book, so much so that i bought it for other friends interested in food and such. if you like people writing like they talk, being honest about their lives, and being pretty funny then you might like this book.
 Julie Powell... Have You No Shame? January 6, 2008
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
I finished this book because I never pass judgement on an incomplete reading.
For those who love and revere Julia Child as I do-- this work will sicken you. (Slander and gratuitous potty-mouthed language aside...the maggot infestation will SICKEN you.)
I cannot believe they are making a movie from this. Scratch that. We live in 2007... Britney Spears is the most recognized female in the western hemisphere. Bring on the movie, I guess. I'm certain it will be a hit.
I have disposed of this book. I would have burned it but book-burning gives me a creepy sort of vibe. This book now resides in my garbage bin. No maggots, though. I clean my kitchen daily.
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