Julie and Julia

On the night that it was announced that Nora Ephron had passed away I finished listening to my first audio book.
Nora Ephron was a writer and film maker.
If you have ever sat at home on a Friday night watching whatever movie is on TV,
there is 99% chance you have experienced her work.
She created ‘Sleepless in Seattle.’

The last movie she made was Julie and Julia.

After the pledge, I had been listening to a recording of the book that the movie is based upon.
The book is read by the author, Julie Powell.
In 2002, Julie Powell set herself the challenge of cooking the 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. As the cooked, she blogged.  This blog turned into a book deal and that turned into Julie and Julia: My year of cooking dangerously.

Julie Powell

The Good
Much of the book consists of descriptions of preparing food, glorious food.
There is something very satisfying about taking part in this process, even just as a spectator. Especially when it involves so much butter.

The book is roughly structured as a series of reflections, inspired by what Powell is cooking.  Having extracted marrow from a bone, Powell considers the “essence of life”.  Cooking potato and leek soup shapes her understanding of the difference between simple and easy. These connections between food and life are sometimes a little laboured, but are written with the quirkiness that accompanies honesty.

The Bad
Powell’s writing has a tendency to be self-indulgent.
There are many tangents to the narrative, concerning how comfortable her shoes are or giving the background on where her underwear came from.
Riveting.

The Ugly
The constant swearing is a little tiresome.
Powell shouts swear words.
She sobs swear words.
She hisses swear words through clenched teeth.
I feel that if any of us really wanted to listen to someone emotionally cuss at us, we could make that happen.
It’s nothing something I look for in an audiobook.