More on Julie Powell's new book, "Cleaving"

We discussed this book briefly at the Cookie Bake on Sunday, and I figured I could post some more information here for you to check out of you wanted.

In case you missed that discussion, this is the same Julie of "Julie and Julia" fame, and her second book is allegedly a great deal grittier than her first.

Points of discussion in this review by Paula Forbes on Eat Me Daily:

• Her discovery and subsequent fascination of butchering
• An extramarital affair
• The dissolution of her marriage when said affair is exposed
• General overdose of TMI
  

Paula's review seems overwhelmingly "Meh..." in flavor, but to round out the selection of opinions, here are some other folks' reviews, should you care to indulge:

• WSJ review: "Her debut book was authentic and disarmingly honest, and it originated in a task that she had assigned herself: Spend a year cooking Julia Child's recipes. 'Cleaving' often feels forced, like a chore performed to please an agent, a publisher and maybe a movie studio."
• Christine Muhlke of the New York Times reviews it: "Her reliance on snark and pop-cultural references is cheap, but her sincere interest in butchery and love for the Fleisher’s crew bring the book’s slasher scenes to life."
• Jezebel reviews it: "It's a disingenuous return to the primitive, but it's suspiciously on-trend."
• Interview with the New York Post: "You know, some people are cool with it and some people aren’t. My mother decided not to read the book and to sort of let that go on by, which I completely understand." Also, one of the three comments: "This is entertainment? Good thing MSG carries hockey regularly otherwise there would be nothing at all on TV."
• Times Online reviews it: "...more often than not it’s clumsy. Mulching around in a pig carcass, she complains about the glove she has to wear: 'Now I know why men hate condoms.' Bleurrghhh!"
• Interview with Double X: On the sex scenes: "People seem to be quite shocked by some of what I portray, but it all seems fairly tame to me, compared to what you read a lot of male authors write about. Though the opening of Chapter Eight is when I always find myself saying, “And THIS is why my mother cannot read this book.”
• Interview with Publishers Weekly: "If [readers] come out of the Nora Ephron romantic comedy, there’s going to be some psychic whiplash."
• SF Gate reviews it: "...Powell's writing talent is considerable. But the book's failings overwhelm its strengths, and by a lot. For one thing, the inclusion of recipes in the book makes no sense. Powell is not a chef and cooking has next to nothing to do with the story. So the recipes only distract from the narrative."
• Interview with Epicurious: "...I'm hoping to write some fiction. Two memoirs before the age of 40 is PLENTY."

via Eat Me Daily