Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment ... (ISBN 1594831068)

I think I need a shower:
Because this project has what I consider to be an irresistible premise and because a friend described the book as "funny," I was excited to read it. On the surface, I have a good deal in common with Julie Powell. We are close in age and background, similar in work history, and both enjoy good food, good drinks, cursing and leaving the cleaning to someone else. After reading this book, if someone were to tell me I reminded them of Julie Powell, I would commit hari-kari. She is terribly unpleasant, self-absorbed and repellant. All of the characteristics with which I could identify are completely reduced to rubble in her hands. I find myself never wanting to hear or use the F-word ever again, and even I was repulsed by her disgusting apartment. I had to skip most of the passage involving maggots lest I lose my lunch. All the tales of sticky cat hair, brackish flooded fixtures and rotting floors didn't help either. I read most of the book with that look on my face people have when something nearby stinks. I assume she was attempting humor and exaggerating many of her misadventures and personality flaws, but the end result is that I loathe her as a fellow human being and wish ill upon her. Her heartless exposure of her friends' and family's personal lives is inexcusable (and dull) and her husband appears to be a combination saint/fool for putting up with her. Powell hates the project, hates her job, dislikes her husband (she mentions her frequent desire to beat his head with sharp rocks. I mean really! Eric! Run for your life!), disdains her friends, scorns her mother, disrespects Julia Child and admires only her cats and her brother. In its relentlessly bleak tone and insistence on examining the lives of detestable characters, this book reminds me of A Confederacy of Dunces. Another supreme waste of time and positive energy. I think the lesson to be learned here is that a blogger does not an author make. The publishing industry needs to be really careful about offering book deals to just any successful blog author. Any fool with an internet connection can create a blog, after all. That doesn't mean they are worthy of anyone else's time or attention.

Self-indulgent:
The author has a good sense of humor so there are many funny moments, but in general, there isn't a lot of substance here. Definitely don't pay full price for this one!

A good summer book. Entertaining, easy, funny.:
I loved this book. It is funny, easy to read, well written, and entertaining. No, I did no "learn" anything about cooking but it was engaging, laugh-out-loud funny in spots, and just a good summer read. I recommend this book for someone looking for a light, easy, book for reading at the beach, or on a plane. Enjoy!

Author starts out abrasive, but becomes more likable towards the end:
Like many of the other reviewers here, I was intrigued by the premise of this book, but the author's attitude and descriptions of her life make it tough going at times. Perhaps she's exaggerating for comic effect, but as is, she initially comes across as the worst caricature of a Gen-X, would-be New York hipster: mean-spirited, self-absorbed, foul-mouthed, rude, whiny, and intolerant of anyone she suspects of not sharing her self-consciously outre (i.e., monogamous married life is "bourgeois", but the woman operating an S & M dungeon in mid-town Manhattan is "awesome!") values. Most of the way through the book, I almost felt sorry for Julie Powell, because she didn't seem to really get much enjoyment out of anything in her life, in spite of having a loving, supportive husband and family. On reflection, though, I felt that my earlier review was too harsh, because Powell does actually grow up a little and mellow out towards the end, and becomes much more endearing as a result. She can be very amusing at times, and I respect her willingness to let people see her struggles and failings and foibles (although I could have done without the blaspheming, and with fewer descriptions of her strident political biases and her friends' sexual escapades, which in my opinion didn't really add much to the book). Overall, it's not a bad way to pass the time.

Absolutely TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:
Too bad I cannot give negative stars!! Read the only the first chapter and was completely turned off by the vulgarity and whiney tone. Even though I am a college graduate I had to have a dictionary handy to interpret the obscure vocabulary that was completely unnecessary. I agree with all of the bad reviews this book is getting and am vehement about how much I hated it!