Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession

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.

Author: Julie Powell
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Published: 11/17/2010
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780316003377

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 12/19/2010 pg. 20

About the Author
After a misspent youth involving loads of dead-end jobs and several questionable decisions, Julie Powell, author of Julie and Julia, has found her calling as a writer-cum-butcher. She lives in Long Island City, Queens, when she isn't in Kingston, NY, cutting up animals.