Julie Powell at McNally Jackson
Last night I went to hear Julie Powell read from her new memoir, Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession, at one of my favorite indie bookstores, McNally Jackson. Julie Powell was shockingly down-to-earth for someone who wrote a bestselling memoir, Julie and Julia, and then had Amy Adams play her in the movie version of said memoir.
The new book, Cleaving, is about Julie’s six-month apprenticeship at a butchery in Kingston, New York, her travels around the world studying meat preparation, and an affair she had that threatened her marriage. She read two sections from the book, both about the meat aspects of her journey. Before starting the reading she admitted that she was too shy to read some of the darker portions of novel concerning her affair.
Julie took questions after the reading and was extremely frank. She acknowledged that she was blessed to have so much hype around her first book (including a movie) but discussed how it was hard to face disappointed fans who wanted her to be Amy Adams. Listening to her for two minutes will alert anyone to the fact that she is very different from Amy Adams. This straightforward attitude made me like her even more and made me excited to read the, hopefully, straightforward account of her affair.
Finally, I want to give a shout out to McNally Jackson for bringing Julie Powell in. If you haven’t been to the independent bookstore, you should definitely go. The fiction section is arranged by geographic location, a choice I find fascinating when you are in the mood for browsing. The cafe has books hanging from the ceiling and they make a great latte. If you need a celebrity angle, visit it to see the bookstore that Dan and Vanessa appear in repeatedly in Gossip Girl. Whatever it takes to get you there, if you like books, you should visit.
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