Not at all like her 1st book. Dark and moody and I didn't expect that. More of her sex life instead of being a butcher. . . well, I guess she butchered her sex life, marriage and relationships. So, yes, she cleaved. ( )

This memoir would have received 4 stars if it either A) didn't include butchering, B) focused exclusively on the love triangle and marriage resolution, or C) integrated the two storylines seamlessly.

This book reminded me of Emily Griffin's Love the One You're With. The obsession, the marriage, the mess. I wanted more of this tale.

The problem for me was the butchering parts were so well written they eclipsed the love story.

Overall the book was not as horrible or as self-absorbed as the reviews I read, but I also didn't read Julie & Julia as a comparison. ( )

Uncomfortable memoir, I think we would all feel better if she could have fictionalized this. ? I want to give her back her anonymity. Certainly readable and plenty of meaty recipes. The upstate NY artisinal butcher's shop sounds idyllic. ( )

1. I don't really want to know such detail about butchery, because it's kind of gross.

2. The author is seriously messed up.

3. I feel sorry for her family and anyone who knows her, because who wants to read such horrible stuff about someone?

4. The main reason I read this book is that the library summer reading program has a "food" theme, so I get a raffle ticket for books that have something to do with food. I'd better win something good! ( )

I hate bad mouthing authors, it is an unspeakably difficult thing to write a book, let alone one that exposes yourself to the audience ... yet ... Julia has demonstrated that this is not the case and written ... well, it's not a book, it is a really long blog post.

She provides a glimpse into a life that is falling apart and interspersed with recipes and her trying to reclaim some glory or validation from a past achievement that was in itself only amazing because of the shoulders she stood upon by entering a world of butchery.

What makes it worse is that neither story is related by anything other than the fact that she lived the two at the same time. She is not strong in either scenario. She shows no sign of strength or empowerment with her affair, her failing marriage or in her new career. Her recitals of the sex she is exploring and apparently enjoying is as flaccid as her description of her sausage making.

The fact that it is randomly interspersed with recipes doesn't offer it any respite as most are, at best, uninspired.

I struggled through this book. I should, in hindsight, have stopped at the second chapter and composted the paper instead. ( )