Books: November 2005 Archives

Went to hear a reading by Julie Powell of the Julie/Julia Project blog last night at KGB Bar, which chronicled her attempts at cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, one day at a time for an entire year. Back in the day, when my innocent little cyberspace self first started at an internet company (well past that period of time when people were making money and well into that period where people were losing it), my new coworkers began sending me time-wasting edifying links to various sites that would surely improve my understanding of the Web and its function across a range of diverse and utterly wholesome subject matters. Having spent the previous two and a half years slaving away at grad school (I still remember the first time a fellow grad student suggested I use Google for an academic-related search--how quaint), reading snarky commentary about the minutea of other people's lives was at once refreshing and yet somehow strangely familiar. As a result of those happy, time-wasting IMs, The Julie/Julia project became favorite daily reading material around the office, especially amongst those who were attempting to create some semblance of modern domesticity at home. While this was not me, reading her blog sticks in my memory as a moment where the internet reached across its techy divide and became a place where ordinary people could star in their own public--and often very amusing--dramas. I was hooked.   So congrats to Julie for getting her book, Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, published even if the NYTimes doesn't love it (I haven't read the book yet, so I can't say if it's awesome or underwhelming). I also saw Amanda Hesser, who was there reading from her book Cooking for Mr. Latte. As is often the case, she was not what I expected.

Julie also has a new blog.