beautiful, evocative Child at her best

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	• My Life in France Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme Anchor, 2007 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 119 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Charming Disappointment

I bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking when it first came out, and I have followed Ms. Child's career with great interest since then. I had the pleasure of meeting her when I lived in Cambridge, and found her utterly delightful. Perhaps there are times when one is better off not knowing too much about an idol. Much of this memoir is charming, and it is presented with a light sophisticated touch. However, one is left with a picture of a woman of privilege who never doubted anything she did for very long, and who was a bit smug and superior. Her disdain for all non-French cuisines, especially that of Italy, should have been beneath her, and her condenscension toward her colleagues, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholde, verges on mean-spiritness. The excessive use of French phrases, when English ones would have been perfectly fine, smacks of Francophilia gone to excess. In spite of all that, I enjoyed hearing all about her early culinary experiences, and I continue to hold the lady in high regard for her unmatched influence in raising the culinary awareness of millions of Americans.

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so.........Julia

I just loved Julia Childs' "My Life in France". She was such a delightful woman. I really enjoyed the descriptions of food and fun. I always liked Julia Childs' TV shows and now that I have read the book I know her better and it has been fun looking at the old cookbooks. I look at them differently now.

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At last, I feel I know Julia Child

If "postwar childhood" for you means post-WWII, as it does for me, then "haute cuisine" meant TV dinners, frozen pizza, and J-E-L-L-O. My mother could cook, and she had spent a year in France, but we often made do with something that bore little resemblance to food. I suspect it was to satisfy the children.

And then a miracle happened. Public television came to us, and it brought "The French Chef." As I watched Julia Child work her 30-minute miracles I began to realize that food doesn't come from a box or a bag. I began to understand as well that good food of all cuisines isn't something to be afraid of or embarrassed by, but rather it is something to be enjoyed and savored.

So it is with "My Life in France." If you ever watched "The French Chef" or any of its many progeny you owe it to yourself to read this book. You will hear Julia Child's laugh on every page, and begin to understand why her programs were so enjoyable. Even more, you will pick up your copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," perhaps for the first time in years, treat it with a little more reverence and respect, and read not just the recipes but the prologues which accompany them in a very different light.

You will also understand her boundless friendships both in and out of the cooking world, and her love for her husband Paul. This really was a couple joined at the hip.

You owe it to yourself to read this book, even if you have never cooked so much as a piece of toast. Bon apetit!

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beautiful, evocative Child at her best

This is a wonderful book that's evocative of not only France but a whole way of life lived long ago. The writing is very warm and personal and invites you in to see a career and a marriage up close in a way that feels so natural. A great read.

As good as Julia in "real life"!

Wonderful -- takes you all through her varied experiences -- which you soon realize are cumulative and genuinely useful -- and put into practice!

reviews: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, page 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

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