It’s weird, I really didn’t have any desire to read Julie and Julia. I don’t know why, the book has everything I like – food blogger, grand ideas, Julia freaking Child. So why didn’t I want to read it? I don’t know, it was probably the hype that turned me off. I only read it because a) I saw it on the shelf, in large print, and thought TW’s mom would like it b) TW’s mom said it was “weird” and it didn’t make sense to her that someone would do such a project c) TW’s mother raised TW who would CERTAINLY think up something like this – and carry it through.
I couldn’t NOT read it after hearing TW’s mom talk about it.
Turns out this was a horrible book for TW’s mom. She doesn’t do the F word and lord, the F word is all over the book. I think had this not been the case, she’d have probably had a different reaction. (TW’s mom would totally be one of those “bleaders” who gave Julie shit for her language.)
I, on the otherhand, loved every word of it. Every single word. Well the killing of the lobsters made me kind of queasy but that’s to be expected. Lots of the recipes made me queasy – that’s a lot of mess, a lot of work, a lot of crazy food that I really do not want to eat. But… the project… pure brilliance. And the writing, fun. Fun, fun, fun.
I’m so glad I read it. (I’m sorry though to hear that Robert, the dog Julie and Eric adopted post-project, passed away a couple of months ago. I was irrationally sad about that when I saw it on her blog last night.)
Ok, but my mother doesn’t understand my projects. She gives them the same baffled look that say your mother does or Christopher.
Or probably the same baffled look that J had when we were saying that Mama didn’t understand the project-oh so what is the problem there?
I was surprised when you said you hadn’t read it. I get the hype and buzz thing but it was Julia Child! And it was the the first (for me at least) really big blog to book publication.
The project really was brilliant. How many “year of x” blogs (and books) have we seen since then? Oodles.