Nearing 30 and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, JuliePowell resolved to reclaim her life by cooking, in the span of a singleyear, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's legendary Mastering theArt of French Cooking. Her unexpected reward: not just a newfound respectfor calves' livers and aspic, but a new life--lived with gusto.

Author's Note

The Road to Hell Is Paved with Leeks and Potatoes

Joy of Cooking

You Have to Break a Few Eggs...

Hacking the Marrow Out of Life

... To Make an Omelette

Disaster / Dinner Party, Dinner Party / Disaster

The Law of Diminishing Returns

They Shoot Lobsters, Don't They?

The Proof Is in the Plumbing

Sweet Smell of Failure

Flaming Crepes!

Time to Move to Weehawken

"Only in America"

Simplicity Itself

... Well, Not Quite

Acknowledgments

Reading Group Guide