Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen

This book has induced several full-blown belly laughs as I listen with my headphones on, making my husband wonder what I could possibly be listening to. When I tell him it's about a woman who is cooking her way through a Julia Child cookbook, he looks nonplussed. The author, Julie Powell, reads her own work very well; her intonation and comedic timing are dead on. She is very irreverent ( I love how she refers to Julia Child as "JC"!) and does have a fairly foul mouth, but I have to say that I find this refreshing. So many foodie books seem to take themselves all too seriously. Like my favorite food writer Ruth Reichl, Julie Powell shows that she loves food but isn't a Food Snob. I can't wait to get back to the book as I potter around my kitchen.

I was attracted to this book because of its author's desperation to find meaning in her life--and the creative approach she took to resolving this all-too-common symptom of our empty-calorie society. Happily, I was not disappointed. The desperation of a bright young woman about to hit 30 who's mired in a life that's much too small for her is palpably felt in this book's prose, as well as in the author's voice (She's both a talented writer and an expressive reader). That she chose a formidable French cookery tome by Julia Child to prove her mettle is both highly entertaining and metaphorically satisfying. Her "hunger" for acknowledgment, for a proving ground, for salvation is gradually sated as she checks off one of Child?s bizarre and intimidating recipes after another. As the author records her personal and culinary failures and triumphs in a blog, she begins to attract dedicated fans, as well as CBS Nightly News, CNN, The New York Times, and a major book publisher. With her journey complete and the rewards more lavish than she could possibly have dreamed, she assumes the status of authentic mythological heroine very much like the archetype described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. To complain that the book contains too little food-related content is to miss its compelling point. This is a book about emotional and spiritual hunger that satiates on every level.

I got is audiobook after watching the movie, which I enjoyed. The author is a great narrator, who could read audiobooks for a living. It took me a while to warm up to her, she has several character flaws that are not portrayed (or understated) in the movie. I came to appreciate her honesty, salty tongue and humor.

I was surprised and pleased by how much I enjoyed this title. Most of the author's commentary was witty and funny, and only occasionally marred by the unnecessarily childish vulgar language that better suits a blog perhaps than a book.

My biggest problem is not with the author as author, but rather with the author as narrator or perhaps the lack of appropriate directing/editing which is characteristic of not only this audiobook, but most audiobooks based on any significant percentage of French vocabulary.

How much extra time and expense would it take to consult a French dictionary or even just a French person and get some phonetic spelling to permit French words to be pronounced with some resemblance to French?

The whole purpose of listening to an audiobook is to HEAR the text. This is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE when no attempt is made to pronounce an entire specialized vocabulary within the book correctly. Further, there is no point in recording a book with lots of French words in it if they are mispronounced--the author might as well use English words if she didn't need the French ones in the text-and if she did need the French words then she ought to have learned how to pronounce them correctly for the audiobook.

If people don't speak French they can at least look the words up when they see them written on the page, but for those who actually DO speak French, there is no way to solve the problem of figuring out a mispronounced word in an audiobook. I think the producer, director, editor, whomever ought to be responsible for making sure an audiobook with this much French vocabulary is comprehensible to those who listen and want to understand what they hear.

It took me a good 30 minutes to let go of my expectations for this book and let it be what it is: a witty exploration of one woman's "help I'm turning 30 and have no life" journey, with Julia Child as savior. It's a plus to have the author read her own work -- if you can ignore the frequent "up-swing" that peppers the reading -- and her observations never get mired in self-pity or whining. Powell has a remarkable ability to be self-deprecating and fetching while she explores a year of difficulties. You learn more about her circle of friends, and her circle of reality, than you do actual cooking. And it works.

That being said, its downside is Powell's tendency to become a bit too self-centered (IMHO), and lose perspective (I can only hope that her brief albeit breezy treatment of 9/11 and the despair of victims' families was meant to be just that, breezy, and not callous). The premise -- the "Project" and its intensity, the ways its demands took over the Powells' life -- is clever and compelling. Eventually, however, I found myself shouting (to my iPod)what it took Powell's husband 11 months to say: "It's only mayonnaise!"

In sum, an enjoyable memoir... if you don't mind the distraction of a 20-Something's navel-gazing (oh yeah: and lots of self-conscious use of the F-word).

Yes - Great book to listen to. Was funny, informative and sparked an interest in coming up with something to do like this (something similar but unique as well).

Killing the lobsters is one that stands out, although there are many moments that crack me up!

Julie, of course.

The whole book moved me! Loved her sense of humor, her determination, and plowing through the unknown. Inspirational!

In addition to loving the book, Julie's narration of it was easy on my ears. I've bought books on Audible before where I just couldn't stand to listen to the narrator. Julie's voice is easy to listen to and makes the book go quickly. Am on my second time of listening to it.

Not really. I see them as equals. It was nice to hear the authors' inflections on certain passages, though. I would have enjoyed it either way.

No.

It did make me laugh. I had never heard the word 'beshat' before, and I thought that was the most clever thing.

I loved this book. The girl next door cooks Julie Child and blogs about it. It was refreshing to hear her frustration with her job, her project and her life. There were several laugh out loud moments when listening to this book. It gave me an aspiration to set a goal and stick to it.

I enjoyed listening to this book quite a bit. I'm one of those that simply must read a book before I see a film, and since I have wanted to see the film I had to "read" the book. I think the fact that the author is narrating her own work is wonderful and adds to the audible experience. A nice, easy listen when you need a break from heavier novels.

this is a great listen for the summer. it is light and funny. enjoy...