Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession » (Unabridged)

Julie Powell was on the verge of turning 30, trapped in a series of unfulfilling temp jobs, and living in a dreadful apartment in Queens, New York. That s when she decided to break the monotony by attempting to make all 524 recipes in Julia Child s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. One year later, Powell had achieved her goal, documented her experiences on one of the most popular blogs on the Internet, and began the award-winning, bestselling book Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously.

Julie Powell thought cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking was the craziest thing she'd ever do—until she embarked on the voyage recounted in her new memoir, CLEAVING.

Her marriage challenged by an insane, irresistible love affair, Julie decides to leave town and immerse herself in a new obsession: butchery. She finds her way to Fleischer's, a butcher shop where she buries herself in the details of food. She learns how to break down a side of beef and French a rack of ribs—tough, physical work that only sometimes distracts her from thoughts of afternoon trysts.

The camaraderie at Fleischer's leads Julie to search out fellow butchers around the world—from South America to Europe to Africa. At the end of her odyssey, she has learned a new art and perhaps even mastered her unruly heart.

Publishers Weekly

Powell flounders in her latest cooking-themed memoir. Trying to end an affair, the married Powell leaves town and seeks distraction in a butcher shop. She explores her obsessions with meat and with her lover—but listeners will quickly tune out. Her sarcastic inflections, flat tone, and nervous voice that worked reasonably well with Julie and Julia sound supercilious and affected here. The clunky performance cannot redeem the uninspired prose, and Powell—who compulsively cheats on her “saintly” husband—is difficult to empathize with. A Little, Brown hardcover. (Dec.)

Author's Note ix

Prologue 1

Part I Apprentice

1 Love and a Butcher Shop 17

2 Boned Out 33

3 Fajita Heartbreak 63

4 Stuffing Sausage 85

5 Break Down 99

6 Off the Hoof 123

7 Opus Nauseous 145

8 Meathead Holiday 160

9 Too Close for Comfort Food 231

10 The Dying Art 253

11 Hanging Up the Knife 266

Part II Journeywoman

12 Carniceria 283

13 Still Undercooked 318

14 When in Tanzania 359

Part III Master?

15 A Butcher Returns 419

Epilogue 439

Acknowledgments 449

Index of Recipes 451