My Year of Cooking Dangerously

Julie & Julia

Julie Powell's Julie &amp; Julia is the story of the culinary blogging sensation that inspired the hit film. 
 
Living in a tiny apartment in New York and trapped in a job she hates, Julie Powell sees life passing her by. Then one night, she notices that the few items she's grabbed from the Korean grocery store are the few items she's grabbed for Potage Parmentier, as described in Julia Child's legendary cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And The Project is born. 
 
Julie begins to cool - every one of the 524 recipes in the book, in the space of just one year. Soon The Project is all she can think about. While the richness of the food she slaves over spreads into the rest of her life. . . 
 
'Sassy, quirky and disarmingly honest . . . Powell draws high-calorie comedy from her exploits' Marie Claire 
 
'A gem of a book . . . both hilarious and touching' Glamour 
 
Julie Powell started to entertain readers on her infamous blog, on which she pledged to cook all the recipes from Julia Child's iconic cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The blog achieved a dedicated following and, as a result of this, it evolved into Julie &amp; Julia - a novel which connects Julie's blog to a reworking of Julia Child's biography. Julie &amp; Julia was adapted for film by Nora Ephron in 2009 and starred Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Cleaving, the sequel to Julie &amp; Julia, is also available from Penguin.

Restores your faith in eating for pleasure

I savoured each dish with the same delight as the author

A gem of a book...both hilarious and touching

What lies at the heart is the power of food to transform the everyday act of eating into a complex and potentially life-changing experience

An entertaining romp portraying the joys and frustrations familiar to any ambitious domestic cook

Reads like a rip-roaringly good novel...a deliciously funny romp

After spending a long, long time working as a temp, Julie Powell now writes in her pyjamas in Long Island City, Queens, where she shares a "loft" apartment with her husband Eric, their dog Robert, their cats Maxine, Lumi and Cooper, and their snake Zuzu Marlene.

Trapped in a boring job and living in a tiny apartment in New York, Julie Powell regularly finds herself weeping on the way home from work. Then one night, through her mascara-smudged eyes, Julie notices that the few items she's grabbed from the Korean grocery store are the very ingredients for Potage Parmentier, as described in Julia Childs' legendary cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And The Project is born. 
 
Julie begins to cook - every one of the 524 recipes in the book, in the space of just one year. This is Julie's story, as gradually, from oeufs en cocotte to bifstek sauté au beurre, from "Bitch Rice" to preparing live lobsters, she realises that this deranged Project is changing her life. The richness of the thousands of sauces she slaves over is beginning to spread into her life, and she begins to find the joie de vivre that has been missing for too many years.

Julie Powell

Since her year spent cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, recounted in Julie &amp; Julia, Julie Powell's mind has turned to meat. Cleaving follows Powell as she learns to butcher, and the process is inspired by, and dovetails with, a personal story - this time of her overcoming an affair that threatens her marriage. Pleasures of the flesh, indeed

Powell's hectic, confiding style is the literary equivalent of a girly evening of dirty gossip over a bottle or five of Sauvignon blanc...her narrative is vivid, well-structured, intense and moving

A remarkable confessional of butchery and adultery

Highly readable . . . beautiful writing, effortlessly filling pages with virtuoso descriptions of animal slaughter and human travail

Julie Powell spent a year cooking her way through Julia Child's impossible Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her experiences were recorded in the hilarious bestselling book and film Julie and Julia. But what she did next took even adventurous Julie by surprise. 
 
She trained as a butcher. 
 
Apprenticed at Fleisher's, she cut, chopped, hammered, sliced and cleaved her way through herds of meat; got splattered in gore; grew big muscles; and showed she had what it took to make it as a woman in a man's world. At the same time she embarked on a passionate, red-blooded affair that threatened her marriage, and, at times, her sanity. 
 
Cleaving is a riveting memoir of love, marriage and meat.

Julie Powell

Praise for Cleaving

Since her year spent cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, recounted in Julie & Julia, Julie Powell's mind has turned to meat. Cleaving follows Po ...

Powell's hectic, confiding style is the literary equivalent of a girly evening of dirty gossip over a bottle or five of Sauvignon blanc...her narrative is vivid, well-structured, intense and moving

A remarkable confessional of butchery and adultery

Since her year spent cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, recounted in Julie & Julia, Julie Powell's mind has turned to meat. Cleaving follows Po ...

Powell's hectic, confiding style is the literary equivalent of a girly evening of dirty gossip over a bottle or five of Sauvignon blanc...her narrative is vivid, well-structured, intense and moving

A remarkable confessional of butchery and adultery

Since her year spent cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, recounted in Julie & Julia, Julie Powell's mind has turned to meat. Cleaving follows Po ...

Powell's hectic, confiding style is the literary equivalent of a girly evening of dirty gossip over a bottle or five of Sauvignon blanc...her narrative is vivid, well-structured, intense and moving

A remarkable confessional of butchery and adultery

Books by Julie Powell

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter