My Life in France
by Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alex Prud'Homme, Julia ChildEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2006-04-04
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Knopf
Book Reviews of My Life in France
Book Review: My Life in France
Summary: 4 Stars
My Life in France, by Julia Child
I bought this book on June 29, 2009 (found the receipt inside), and in just over six months I've read it three times. While I do tend to reread, that is a lot for even me in such a short period. But I just love this book so much that it's so easy to pickup again and again, and each time I enjoy it anew.
While reading I heard Julia Child's distinctive voice in my head, speaking each word. "My Life in France" feels like a literary version of her television cooking shows, which I remember watching on PBS when growing up. After reading about her experiences taping her first shows in 1962, I scrounged up a DVD copy of the original shows, and it was fascinating to watch those after reading her thoughts and impressions on the process.
"My Life in France" is an absolutely fantastic retelling of Julia's years in France and of discovering her purpose in life: cooking. She began by shopping at the local markets, to improve her abysmal French, and then eventually ended up attending the Cordon Bleu, the famed cooking academy. While cultivating an active social life in Paris full of dinner parties and outings with her husband and lifelong love, Paul, Julia met many in the French gastronomic world. Two of the people she met were Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, who were trying to write a French cookbook for American chefs. Their early attempts at publication failed, and the two were advised to bring an American onboard for much needed perspective - enter Julia. Thus began their collaboration on a massive labor of love that would eventually tally in at over 700 pages - the slimmest they could make it.
While much of the memoir focuses on her entry and later success into the cooking world, and her research, cookbook work, teaching, and restaurant visits, Julia also gives plenty of detail about normal life, from apartment problems to her addiction for shiny kitchenware. Julia includes much about her husband as well, who was interesting in his own right.
My one complaint is that French words, especially for the names of dishes, are sprinkled throughout, and translations aren't always provided. I have a few years of French under my belt and knew most, but I couldn't translate some of the cooking terms. A listing at the end would have been helpful. The ending seems to lose some steam, as entire years go by with scant mention.
Otherwise, an excellent treat of a book. Bon app?tit!
4/5.
Summary of My Life in France
In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child's years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found 'her true calling.'From the moment the ship docked in Le Havre in the fall of 1948 and Julia watched the well-muscled stevedores unloading the cargo to the first perfectly soign? meal that she and her husband, Paul, savored in Rouen en route to Paris, where he was to work for the USIS, Julia had an awakening that changed her life. Soon this tall, outspoken gal from Pasadena, California, who didn't speak a word of French and knew nothing about the country, was steeped in the language, chatting with purveyors in the local markets, and enrolled in the Cordon Bleu.
After managing to get her degree despite the machinations of the disagreeable directrice of the school, Julia started teaching cooking classes herself, then teamed up with two fellow gourmettes, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, to help them with a book they were trying to write on French cooking for Americans. Throwing herself heart and soul into making it a unique and thorough teaching book, only to suffer several rounds of painful rejection, is part of the behind-the-scenes drama that Julia reveals with her inimitable gusto and disarming honesty.
Filled with the beautiful black-and-white photographs that Paul loved to take when he was not battling bureaucrats, as well as family snapshots, this memoir is laced with wonderful stories about the French character, particularly in the world of food, and the way of life that Julia embraced so wholeheartedly. Above all, she reveals the kind of spirit and determination, the sheer love of cooking, and the drive to share that with her fellow Americans that made her the extraordinary success she became.
Le voici. Et bon app?tit!
Book Description
Julia Child single handedly awakened America to the pleasures of good cooking with her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her television show The French Chef, but as she reveals in this bestselling memoir, she didn't know the first thing about cooking when she landed in France.
Indeed, when she first arrived in 1948 with her husband, Paul, she spoke no French and knew nothing about the country itself. But as she dove into French culture, buying food at local markets and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life changed forever. Julia's unforgettable story unfolds with the spirit so key to her success as a cook and teacher and writer, brilliantly capturing one of the most endearing American personalities of the last fifty years.
Julie & Julia is now a major motion picture (releasing in August 2009) starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child. It is partially based on her memoir, My Life in France. Enjoy these images from the film, and click the thumbnails to see larger images.
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