A Charming Memoir of Vintage France

books:


	• My Life in France Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme Anchor, 2007 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 115 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

A Charming Memoir of Vintage France

This is a charming book, where Julia Child talks in detail about her years in Paris and France just after the Second World War. Julia
completely fell in love with France and with French food and the way of life there. The relationship between Julia and her husband Paul is also lovely to read about, as they completely adored each other. Julia's passion for life, her energy, her sense of humour, modesty and intelligence shine through every page. This is accompanied by a complete lack of self-pity eg where she mentions their inability to have children.

She describes in detail her first encounter with French food, her experiences studying at Le Cordon Bleu, learning to speak French, setting up her own cooking school and writing her first cookbook. There were many trials and tribulations in the years of research, testing of the recipes, collaborating with the other authors and getting the book accepted for publication. Julia was like the original Alton Brown or 'Cook's Illustrated'. Of the three authors, one of whom contributed very little, it was Julia who was constantly tinkering with the recipes in order to find the best result. Spend a month experimenting with the best way to boil an egg? No problem. She was fascinated by kitchen science, which was in its infancy in those days.

Julia also describes eating at restaurants all over France and she remembers many of the menus in detail, as well as the vintage of wines they drank and how the individual dishes were prepared. She talks about shopping for ingredients in the marketplace and some of the unusual kitchen gadgets she picked up in Paris, which later appeared on the set of her TV shows.

So many things were done differently in those days - you put your milk bottles on the window sill to keep cool because most Parisians didn't have a refrigerator, and just about everything in the professional kitchen was still done by hand in the old manner. It was a different culinary world and I am pleased that some of this history has been preserved in this book.

The book has a lot of general historical interest too - when they arrived there was rationing and there were hardly any cars in Paris. They walked all over the city, routes that you just could not do on foot these days. Her husband was a photographer/artist and there are some interesting B & W photos of Paris & the French countryside included in the book. They also had a house in Provence long before the influx of tourism changed and spoiled the area. She and her husband met many influential and eccentric people.

The book was a collaboration between Julia and her husband's twin brother's grandson, who is an author in his own right. I thought it was very enjoyable and interesting. Is this a great work of literature? No, and to be honest, few biographies are. But this book does what it set out to do very well. It is pleasant and easy to read and the story it tells is very interesting. I would recommend it for people with an interest in culinary history or community cookbooks, an interest in French cuisine, and of course for anyone who liked Julia Child. It makes a lovely accompaniament to the bible of classic French cuisine: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".

for more information click here

An Amazing Life!

France, food, family and friends - Julia Child's life was fascinating. I didn't want this book to end, I enjoyed it so much. It was so interesting to see how her life and career unfolded, layer after layer. She was truly remarkable though she probably wouldn't see it that way. The love she and her husband shared was so touching. Told in Julia's own words, with the assistance of Alex Prud'homme, who did an excellent job of giving her story its continuity. Nicely done! Buy it, you'll love it!

for more information click here

Thoroughly enjoyable...

Very readable, enjoyable look at Julia Child's years in France and her beginnings in the world of professional cooking.

for more information click here

loved it!

I checked this book out of the library on a whim and didn't have high expectations. I then put off reading it and almost returned it without even opening the cover. Fortunately, I felt guilty returning a book with out at least reading the introduction and first few pages. Once I started I couldn't put it down! It was an easy, fast read, and very inspirational. This book made me want to travel, cook, write and figure out what my passion in life really is. Prior to reading this book I didn't know anything about Julia Child, but now I can't wait to check out some of her cookbooks.

for more information click here

My Life in France

The product is what I expected. It arrived on time and in the condition advertised.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Books that I wish I owned (Volume I)!
Great food narratives for good cooks
Best new books of food, love, life
Most readable French history
Best Biographies!

search for books
my life in, france, life

Impressum / about us