It is a situation that many women — many people — can identify with on some level. Unsatisfied with the way her life was headed, Julie Powell knew she needed a change, but did not know exactly what that change needed to be. She found inspiration in the unlikeliest of places — a 35-year-old copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and in the life story of Julia herself.
The Problem
Born Julia Foster in Austin, Texas, Julie Powell has grown up, married her high school sweetheart, and moved to New York to follow her dream of becoming an actress. But it becomes apparent that this is not, after all, the life she hoped for. Nearing age 30, Julie is diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, which will make it increasingly difficult for her to conceive a child. Worse, she is horrified to realize that she has given up on acting completely and become a professional secretary.
Realizing that Julie is constantly on edge emotionally, her husband Eric suggests that perhaps taking a break to visit her parents in Austin might help. It is there, in her mother’s kitchen, that Julie renews her adolescent relationship with her mother’s copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which she brings home.
After she makes Julia Child’s Potage Parmentier (potato and leek soup), Eric suggests that she take a cooking class. Julie responds sarcastically that if she wanted to learn to cook French food, she’d just cook her way through MtAoFC — and the Julie/Julia Project is born.
The Project
Although the story of Julie & Julia is really that of two lives, the action truly begins on August 25, 2002, when Julie Powell makes her first blog entry. As if setting herself the challenge of making 524 recipes in 365 days were not enough, Julie takes the extra step of committing to writing about it on the internet. Despite the fact that few people at the time know what a “blog” is, Julie receives comments from “bleaders” (her shorthand for “blog readers”) almost immediately.
Julie writes in her first blog post that she is “risking her marriage, her job, and her cats’ well-being” to take on this “deranged” assignment. As her story unfolds, it becomes obvious that there are several problems with the project that she has not considered. One is finding ingredients such as suet, bone marrow, and canned onions — things easily accessible to Julia Child but difficult to find in today’s supermarket. She has not considered the crustacean killing spree she will have to undertake. She has not even taken into account the pitfalls of gaining butter weight or tasting the first eggs she has ever eaten.
But Julie (mostly) steadfastly plows through all of these obstacles. She braves dinner guests, house guests, and uninvited guests living in the draining pan under her dish rack. She finds that preparing 524 recipes does not mean 524 successes, nor does it usually mean eating dinner before 10:00 p.m. She finds that some nights, it is okay to give up, leave the kitchen behind, order a pizza, and watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer instead. With the support of her husband, her friends, and her bleaders, she learns about not just French cooking, but about the inspirational story of Julia Child herself.
The Result
At heart, Julie & Julia is the story of a life changed. As the Project develops, we see how Julie begins to gain the attention of the media, attention that resulted in the book deal and more. (In addition to becoming a best-seller, Julie & Julia will soon be released as a major motion picture, starring Amy Adams as Julie Powell and Meryl Streep as Julia Child.)
Julie & Julia is not a book for the faint of heart. Julie Powell paints neither herself nor Julia Child as saints. They are both real women, cooking real food and living real lives. Julie’s language may put off some readers — as it occasionally did readers of her blog — but she is not afraid of showing her unflattering moments as well as her successes. That is, ultimately, the point of her story: that real, ordinary people can live extraordinary lives if they will only allow themselves to do so.
Julie Powell’s story is about learning. And the most important lesson of all is that “The End” never is. It is never too late to change your life or find your passion. Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously is a must read for anyone who hungers for more in their lives, either literally or figuratively.
Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, by Julie Powell, is published by Little, Brown and Company (2009), ISBN 978-0316042512.
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