Julie Powell was on the verge of turning 30, trapped in a series of unfulfilling temp jobs, and living in a dreadful apartment in Queens, New York. That s when she decided to break the monotony by attempting to make all 524 recipes in Julia Child s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. One year later, Powell had achieved her goal, documented her experiences on one of the most popular blogs on the Internet, and began the award-winning, bestselling book Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously.