First of all, I have a great deal to express regarding this book.

So, prior to delving into the extensive negative aspects, we will commence with the positive.

I discovered myself immediately identifying with Julie Powell.

Being a few years short of 30 (specifically 3 years), I also find myself in a similar situation in terms of work and life (excluding the boyfriend part... and the subsequent negative aspects), and most importantly, facing the ticking time clock of my biological clock as my eggs age.

Honestly, this book couldn't have entered my life at a more opportune moment.

The Bad:

1) At times (mostly), she really wasn't a likable person despite her occasionally humorous and sarcastic remarks. I'm completely convinced that this woman dislikes everything. What was also extremely bothersome to me was the fact that she seemed to forget she was MARRIED... constantly going on about how the sanctity of marriage essentially meant nothing to her and that if given the opportunity, she would cheat. Also, the way she treated her husband was abominable. He was the one person who was probably willing to endure her temper tantrums and had the patience of an ox. She should be fortunate to have a good guy who was willing to stay with her and her crazy bitchiness. If it weren't for him, she would still be working that dreadful job she continuously complains about.

2) You know what bothered me the most? It was the fact that there were so many tasteless and tacky remarks dispersed throughout the book. For example, she made this very callous and unfeeling comment: "Trussed chicken always looks like sex-crime victims, pale, flabby and hog-tied". (There are more similar ones) Umm... what the hell? Things like this just keep reducing the rating for me. Someone needs to instill a sense of compassion and understanding in this woman.

3) So much description! Oh my, did she overload the book with unwanted information about what brains taste like and how they are cooked. Also, the house where she cooked... Good heavens, I would never eat at this woman's house in my life. I'm amazed they didn't get sick or contract some disease. Why would she think it was hygienic to cook in a kitchen with cat hair all over the dishes and maggots under a mat? Or even cook with old milk etc... I mean, is she that dense that she can't notice curdled milk? Or does she simply not care about anything... Just thinking about it makes me feel nauseous.

4) Sentences like "As he was not to do"... huh?

Seriously, this book doesn't even deserve a 1 star from me. It's more like a 0.3 or maybe a 0.4 on one of my better days.

P.s. I'm not ashamed to say that the author needs her own book thrown at her face so she won't produce any more garbage.

I was truly overjoyed when I started reading this book. I had adored the movie and had recently embarked on a fantastical love affair with Julia Child and all things related to France. I had never had any particular interest in France before, but suddenly, I found myself buying shirts emblazoned with the word Paris and excitedly planning a trip in the near future. However, one of my greatest disappointments was that my copy of this book (yes, I'm aware its connection to France is mainly through a classic cookbook) didn't arrive in time for my departure on a 10-day trip to Texas. Fortunately, I was able to bring it along on my next adventure, which was a 19-day stay in CA.

The book only lasted two days. I put it down just under halfway through, suddenly realizing that a major rewrite must have occurred for "Julie and Julia" to become the whimsical movie it turned out to be.

I really tried to like the book, and I did enjoy the cooking portions. I didn't particularly mind Powell's passive-aggressive style, although I didn't appreciate having to wade through her self-proclaimed "sailor's mouth". Language is far too vast and expressive to settle for the terms Powell favors as her go-tos.

The two greater battles I chose not to engage in were political and sexual.

Powell despises Republicans (I'm not necessarily one... I fall somewhere between independent and apolitical). She truly hates them. She makes broad generalizations about the party, including accusations of lacking true empathy and being outright stupid. I simply don't have the time for such polarizing statements, not to mention my general aversion to sweeping generalizations.

And food is not sex, yet Powell was determined to draw such a fanatical connection in each successive chapter. I didn't need to know the sordid details of Powell's friends' sex lives (whether they were functional or dysfunctional makes no difference) or her own distaste for being labeled as the poster child for marital fidelity. When she advised friend Gwen to go ahead and hook up with a married company man (claiming what it does to his marriage is his problem, not hers), I had had enough. That's a clear lack of true empathy.

I don't even enjoy writing negative reviews. I prefer to applaud art, even if the worldview presented doesn't align with my own. But perhaps for only the second time ever, I just can't do it. And I'm sorry to have to say that.

Hmm. Well, I was initially so optimistic, but I ended up putting this book down permanently at page 45. Here's what inspired my decision:

"The governor of New Jersey was a bit of a pri---. So, instead of cooking, I ate pizza and wrote this impromptu piece of sparkling prose:

Wealthy Victorians served Strawberries Romanof in December. Now, we show off our superiority by only serving dewy organic berries during the two-week periods when they can be picked ripe off the vine at the boutique farm down the road from our Hampton bungalow. People talk about scouring the green markets for the freshest this, the thinnest that, the greenest or firmest or softest whatever, as if what they're doing is a selfless act of utmost care and good taste, rather than the privileged activity of someone who doesn't have to work for a living.

But Julia Child isn't like that. Julia Child wants you - that's right, you, the one living in the tract house in sprawling suburbia with a dead-end middle-management job and nothing but a Stop and Shop for miles around - to know how to make good pastry and also how to make those canned green beans taste okay. She wants you to remember that you are human and, as such, are entitled to that most basic of human rights, the right to eat well and enjoy life.

And that blows heirloom tomatoes and first-press Umbrian olive oil out of the f---ing water."

I'm sitting in the bathtub reading this, and I feel filthy. Maybe I need more bubbles.

First of all, I don't like you, Julie. You're a complainer and full of self-congratulations. Yuck. That's a recipe for me not wanting to enter your world or be your friend.

But mainly, I don't like how you talk and think. Sometimes using a crass word has its place. I can easily ignore or even admire its use quite regularly and often rate similar-using books with 5 stars. But what's different about this one, the one I was sure I would love - after all, it combines a Bridget Jones-like airiness with cooking, two great loves of mine?

I've found the word. Vulgar. This book is vulgar. Ms. Powell chooses her words to shock and push the envelope, similar to my 10th grade students who would go to great lengths to integrate any quotation with a swear into their literary essay.

I should have stopped reading when I read this on page 21:

"Please understand - I love my husband like a pig loves sh--."

What?? Is this the best you can do? If so, then I'm positive I can do better with my time. Back to the library with you after I scrub myself with a pumice stone for the foreseeable future.

My thoughts:

I was truly and utterly disappointed in this book. It was such a struggle that I had to force myself to finish it, and believe me, that's not a pleasant way to spend a Saturday. Let me tell you! I found Julie to be extremely irritating. Her potty mouth didn't bother me as much as other aspects. What really turned me off was the way she talked about 9/11, her work in the government agency, her intense hatred for Republicans, and just her overall personality. I think all of this really colored my thoughts about the entire book. I wish she would have simply focused on the food adventures and included some portions of her blog. I did enjoy reading the comments from some of her readers. I had a good laugh when her mom read the blog and left her notes about how crazy she thought her daughter was for trying to cook every recipe in Julia Childs' cookbook. The most enjoyable parts of the whole book were the excerpts from Paul Childs before each chapter. I loved reading these little snippets and was actually eager to get through her chapter so that I could return to the truly interesting people!

I'm pretty much an Independent. I despise having to declare myself a Democrat or a Republican. But can I just say that the following quote really seemed unnecessary?

Setting the scene for you: Julie was taking Charlotte Malakoff to her office so that her co-workers could partake in her newest creation. She dropped the ceramic dish and it shattered everywhere.

And after I got up to the office and left the heaped remains of charlotte out on the counter of the staff kitchen with a note saying \\"Please Enjoy!\\" I had to go to the six Democrats in the office and tell them they might want to take a pass since there might be ceramic shards or antifreeze in it.
p.170

I understand...she hates Republicans, but she doesn't have to constantly hit us over the head with it!!!

Oh well, I'm still going to see the movie because I'm certain that it has to be much, much better than this book!