Julie & Julia

The dust jacket was an enticing sea green, the raised letters in pastel orange and pink; friendly, inviting. A chartreuse bowl held a mound of cream begging to have fingers stuck in it. The disgruntled duck-whisk lying on it's side said this book would not be without conflict. But the color scheme reassured me: It'd be a pleasant journey.

Many of us readers rely on book covers to let us know if it is a book we want to read; publishers try to make covers as appealing to the intended audience as they can, to get the attention of those most likely to buy the book.

Little, Brown and Company: You have failed me! Julie & Julia was not what the cover promised! It was not fluffy, it was not pleasant! It was not as adorable as a kitchen utensil shaped like a fowl!

Where on the dust jacket does it tell us the book will be whiney and histrionic? The narrator tells us Julia Child saved her pitiful life, but at the end of the book I can't much see what the difference is.
The book was pleasant in that it was constantly talking about food, but then, I could just as easily read a cookbook.

The longer I look at that little ducky, the more sinister it appears.

Recommendation: If this cover appeals to you, watch the movie, forget the book.