"Julie & Julia" & me
Pass the popcorn, please. Today is the day that鈥檚 had bibliophiles and foodies salivating all summer.聽 The highly-anticipated movie "," starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, is opening at theaters across the country, and I for one plan to be first in line.
For anyone who鈥檚 been, say, backpacking across Mongolia this past month and thus may have missed the media blitz, 鈥淛ulie & Julia鈥� is based on the eponymous book by Julie Powell, which in turn was based on her blog 鈥淭he Julie/Julia Project,鈥� a hilariously raucous and occasionally ribald recounting of a year spent cooking her way through Julia Child鈥檚 鈥�.鈥澛� It鈥檚 reportedly the first major motion picture to be made of a blog (Hollywood?聽 I have a blog, too 鈥� call me!), although it鈥檚 also based on Julia Child鈥檚 鈥�My Life in France,鈥� a deliciously ebullient reminiscence of the author鈥檚 years abroad as a newlywed during which she discovered her calling in life.聽 Writer-director Nora Ephron adapted both best-selling memoirs for her screenplay, and I can鈥檛 wait to see how she鈥檚 managed it, because any way you slice it, the convergence of books, food, and film is a tasty troika indeed.
I also can鈥檛 wait to watch Meryl Streep sink her teeth into the role of Julia Child.
Growing up as I did in 鈥�60s and 鈥�70s, the heyday of PBS鈥檚 surprise hit The French Chef, Julia and her gleeful warble were part of the soundtrack of my childhood.聽 Although to my knowledge my mother never attempted a single featured dish 鈥� about as French as our family got was Chicken 脿 la King 鈥� oh did she ever love to watch Julia in action.聽 Who didn鈥檛?
Once, when I was in my teens, I got to see her in action for myself when my aunt took me to downtown Boston for a book signing-cum-cooking demonstration.聽 The place was mobbed.聽聽 Julia was as larger-than-life in real life as she was on TV (at six foot two, she was the same height as my aunt, a fact which endeared her to my aunt forever), and she gamely wise-cracked her way through what to her must have been just another publicity event, but to us was a once-in-a-lifetime Julia sighting, long to be savored.聽 I can鈥檛 remember which recipe she made for us from her then-hot-off-the-press 鈥淔rom Julia Child鈥檚 Kitchen,鈥� but I know that a whisk was brandished, and I recall much enthusiastic beating of ingredients.
Perhaps a similar personal experience inspired author Amy Bronwen Zesmer, whose 2008 young adult title "," a tale of a shy high school girl with culinary aspirations and a trunk full of unmailed letters to her role model, is being re-promoted by HarperCollins, who is clearly hoping to surf the wave of enthusiasm for all things Julia.
Julie Powell and Julia Child.聽 Two very different women; two very different books; one shared passion for food and life.聽 Toss in a talented screenwriter and the result could be a feast indeed.聽 Here鈥檚 hoping it is.
Heather Vogel Frederick is not a foodie, she just likes to eat.聽 Her latest novel for young readers, Dear Pen Pal, will be published next month by Simon & Schuster.聽 She blogs at .
