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Product Description
Julia Child singlehandedly created a new approach to American cuisine 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 was not always a master chef.
Indeed, when she first arrived in France in 1948 with her husband, Paul, who was to work for the USIS, 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 with her newfound passion for cooking and teaching. Julia¡¯s unforgettable story ¨C struggles with the head of the Cordon Bleu, rejections from publishers to whom she sent her now-famous cookbook, a wonderful, nearly fifty-year long marriage that took them across the globe ¨C unfolds with the spirit so key to her success as a chef and a writer, brilliantly capturing one of the most endearing American personalities of the last fifty years.
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Customer Reviews: - My Lie in France
Don't we all love Julia? This book basicly explains how Julia became the "French chef." This is the second biography of Julia I've read and the author is obviously very fond of the old girl. A totally charming read. Food, France, travel, culture, personalities,accomplishments. Perfect. ...more info - A must read for anyone who aspires to live better
While I find most food writing, particularly autobiographies, tiring to the core this book warmed my jaded little heart.
It's hard not to love Julia Child, but when I got this book I was hardly expecting to come away from it not only satisfied with geeky details of her life but also inspired to explore food fearlessly.
The story never bogs down in sentimentality. The prose is tight and focused and the tone is so perfect you can almost hear Juilia's shrill voice recounting meals in Provence.
Few things I have read have made me want to not only cook but look at food as a philosophy of life.
I have come away from this book changed for the better and I think that is the best thing any author can hope for....more info - Bon Appetit!
A beautiful memoir of an amazingly well-lived life. For anyone with a love of la belle France, this will be endlessly entertaining. Those who remember Julia Child's groundbreaking cooking shows will hear her oddly distinctive voice coming through these pages. It's a love story about her relationships, especially Paul, her talented husband. Wistful, sentimental. You'll wipe away tears by the end of the last page....more info - Absolutely Delicious
Over the years, I watched Julia Child on television every chance I could, from the earliest days when she would whirl heavy pots and pans and kitchen machetes around as other women might have twirled a baton, to the later years when she was bent and obliged to leave the hefting to others but still kept her eagle eye on every step of the cooking process. I was a C- cook, and the only recipes of Julia's I ever used were a few omelette guidelines; I watched her because she was so delightful, witty, and impassioned.
Her Book, My Life in France, brims over with that glorious passion. Julia's voice, her joie de vivre, her vigor, and her impatience with the lazy and the boring bubble on every page. If "the god is in the details," then this book is heavenly, for it has a richness of details carefully selected not only from Child's memory, but from hundreds of pages of notebooks, letters, and cooking records of all sorts. In these my mature years, I have been reading mostly biographies and autobiographies; this volume of Julia Child's years in France is and will remain a favorite because of its honesty, sense of fun, and unflagging passion. It's delicious! ...more info - Julia Child in Love
"MY LIFE IN FRANCE"
by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme
The idea for this book was born in 1969 when Julia and her husband Paul in sifting through letters and photographs of their time in France (1948-54) realized that those formative and joyous years contained the elements for a book. It took thirty-six years but with the help of her grandnephew Alex, "the French book," as she called it is a delightful reality.
The cackling laugh and self-effacing humor so familiar to those millions for whom Julia demystified French cooking jumped off the page as I devoured this book with the same enthusiasm as a civet de sanglier on a cold Parisian day.
Who could have predicted that the daughter of a staunchly Republican, Pasadena WASP businessman and a social mom who rarely ventured into kitchen would become one of the world's foremost authorities on The Art of French Cooking?
She did it by absorbing the culture-listening, watching and questioning as in this visit to her local cr¨¦merie:
" Madame was a whiz at judging the ripeness of cheese. If you asked for a camembert, she would cock an eyebrow and ask at what time you wished to serve it; would you be eating it for lunch today, or at dinner tonight, or would you be enjoying it a few days hence? Once you had answered, she'd open several boxes, press each cheese intently with her thumbs, take a big sniff, and-voil¨¢-she'd hand you just the right one. I marveled at her ability to calibrate a cheese's readiness down to the hour, and would even order cheese when I didn't need it just to watch her in action. I never knew her to be wrong."
MY LIFE IN FRANCE chronicles Julia's education as a chef in Paris, her collaboration with Simone (Simca) Beck and Louisette Bertholle on the seminal MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING and the creation of THE FRENCH CHEF cooking show that established her as a media star.
But it is also a love story as Paul's tender observation of quotidian culinary activity so poignantly reveals: "She's becoming an expert plucker, skinner and boner. It's a wonderful sight to see her pulling all the guts out of a chicken through a tiny hole in it's neck and then, from the same little orifice, loosening the skin from the flesh in order to put in an array of leopard-spots made of truffles. Or to watch her remove all the bones from a goose without tearing the skin. And you ought to see {her} skin a wild hare-you'd swear she'd just been "Comin Round the Mountain with Her Bowie Knife in Hand."
My Life in France feels like a home-cooked meal with Julia in her kitchen.
...more info - A Cook is Born
This was a very inspiring book. We learn that Julia did not have a 5-star culinary upbringing, and barely knew how to cook until she moved with her then newly-wedded husband to Paris where he served in the U.S. foreign service. She tells of her first meal in France upon arrival by boat, and how she was inspired to learn everything there was to know about French food. Education at the Cordon Bleu commences shortly thereafter, and the rest, as they say, is history.
What was interesting to learn was the length of time it took to get the "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" written, and then edited and published. It shows that, contrary to what casual observers think of people who have succeeded in life, the road there is long with sidetrips along the way.
As one who aspires to cook well, but seem to fall short now and then, this was very inspirational. I recall seeing a TV biography about Julia Child which stated that Julia did not even know how to boil water until she was 40, which then turned into an excuse to my husband that there is still hope for me! While the book proved that story to be wrong, her trials and tribulations prove that where there is a will, there is a way. And that perfection does not happen at once, but is earned by hard work, as in many of life's endeavors....more info - Makes me want to move to France!
This book chronicles Julia's amazing life in France. I feel inspired by Julia's story. It truly shows you can find your calling at almost any time in life....more info - It's so good you will want to share it with friends.
I loved this book and told several people about it. My sister is borrowing it and says she's enjoying listening while commuting to work. France is awesome and listening to this book makes you feel as if you are there sitting in the restaurants and tasting the food. Julia Child was hardworking and honest about her abilities. She was able to laugh at herself and invited us to laugh also. The book was written by her husband's brother's son. He did a fine job. I highly recommend this book to those who love Paris, good French cooking, and interesting biographies....more info - I didn't want it to end !!
My book club read this book. After discussion we grade each book with a thumbs up, down or in the middle. This was the first book that got an unanimous thumbs up.
I was the one person who listened to the audio book. The reader is a bit shaky at first and the voice is a raspy woman's voice who sounds to be a senior citizen. However, it rolls on and then the voice becomes part of the presentation. It works great.
Don't hesitate to get the audiobook if you feel you don't have time to read it.
And as my title says I didn't want it to end.
...more info - Very Julia Child
This informative memoir covers Julia Child's and photographer husband Paul Child's years in France, mostly Paris in the fifties, with humor, and her joyful experience learning the French way to cook at the famous Cordon Bleu. There are recipes and detailed descriptions of the meals and wines she and her husband and friends enjoyed. It's very Julia Child, and includes many wonderful photos of their life there....more info - Oh Julia!
What a delightful read - couldn't put it down - and I am not even that interested in cooking!...more info - A Fascinating Life
For anyone who enjoyed watching Julia in any of her television shows, this book delves into her earlier life , explains how she painstakingly went about writing her first (and most famous) cookbook, and then how she ventured into television. Her years in France were quite the adventure, and most surprisingly is her incredible sense of humor. What a fascinating life she lead. I highly recommend this book....more info - A DELICIOUS MEMOIR
First of all, I have to say that I'm not into cooking or cookbooks, but after reading so many wonderful reviews on Amazon, I decided that I had to read it.
From all the great reviews that I had read, my expectations were pretty high, but the book actually exceeded my expectations. Where do I start? Julia Child along with her husband's grand nephew, who happens to be a good writer, Alex Prud'Homme, effectively draw the reader into a French life fully lived by Julia and her husband, Paul. The descriptions of the land, the food, the people and the way of life are beautifully described in this loving memoir. I also saw a different side of Julia, one that is playful, humorous and really down to earth, while at the same time she was very detail oriented and totally dedicated to her craft. The book also features lovely pictures of Paris and other places where she and Paul visited or lived taken by Paul, as he was a skilled artist and a photographer. There are words and phrases sprinkled throughout in French (some are translated in English, others are not) and it helped that I know some French. The story picks up right after Julia gets married and moves to Paris for her husband's job. She instantly falls in love with France especially its cuisine inspiring her to start cooking. What a wonderful life she had! A great read whether you're into cooking or not. ...more info - A wonderful read
This is a wonderful book. Julia Child is one of the most positive, passionate and witty personalities of our time. I sure miss her. Especially around the holidays when I make her cranberry relish. This book is written in a way that makes her seem very present. Her story is very humorous and inspiring....more info - Another gift
Book in excellent condition -- again, a gift and a nice tribute to a great lady....more info - An Enthralling Read
Alex Prud'homme joined his great-aunt Julia Child to create this perfect memoir, based largely on family correspondence and Prud'homme's interviews with Child in the last year of her life. My Life in France works on a remarkable number of levels to create a complex, satisfying and enthralling read. Among other things, My Life in France is:
--A vividly-rendered travelogue that will transport you to the streets of Paris, the Marseille waterfront and the hills of Provence.
--A tour de force on the cuisine bourgeoise that Julia Child loved and popularized in the United States.
--The love story of Paul and Julia Child or, as they frequently referred to themselves, "PJ" or "Pulia".
--A publishing saga of the herculean efforts associated with the writing and publishing of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a process that took approximately a decade for volume one and eight years for volume two.
--An autobiography of Julia Child, revealed here as ebullient, dedicated, and almost ruthlessly single-minded in her mission to bring authentic French cookery to the American masses.
Any one of these subjects would be worthy of a memoir. To find them all explored cogently and completely in a single, comparatively slender, beautifully written volume is a marvel. Congratulations to Mr. Prud'homme for shepherding this book to completion, and a hearty 'Bon Appetit' to the memory of Julia Child, a woman who lived life well....more info - Flavor of France
Love food? Enjoy Paris? Read Julia Child's lovely memoir compiled by her nephew from letters sent by Julia to her family during years of residence in France when she learned to cook and started producing the very first culinary instruction show on television back in the 1960's. All do-it-yourself and creative innovation, Julia and Paul, her spouse and food stylist, publicity agent and bottle washer, brought fine food to a vast American audience that didn't know much about international cuisine. Thank you Julia!...more info - From Awkward Tourist to French Cooking Fame!
My Life in France is the most entertaining memoir I've read in 2006! It's a winner.
I first met Julia Child under unusual circumstances. My consulting firm was located down the street from where she got her hair done. Every Friday night, she would be seen peering into the windows to look at our art collection. After a few weeks of this, I walked outside and invited her in to tour the work up close. She was immediately studying everything from about three inches away. She thanked me politely and charged out the door. There was no hint of the slightly tipsy person filled with laughter who hosted The French Chef. Ah . . . I felt like I had met the real woman beneath the persona.
From that meeting, I gathered that she was a woman moved more than most by curiosity. I found myself also being curious about how she learned enough about French cooking to help co-author that masterwork, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Most French people in those days would not choose working with an American as a way to produce a work about France. That would be like putting salty Virginia ham into Quiche Lorraine.
My Life in France nicely filled in all the blanks for me. The book was lovingly finished by her grand-nephew, Paul Prud'homme, after Julia's death and is filled with lovely photographs produced by Julia's husband, Paul Child.
Here's the short version of the book. Julia had been in Asia for World War II as part of the OSS and met her husband there. He was ten years older than she was and well traveled . . . especially in France. After World War II, he joined the USIS (predecessor to the USIA) which played a friendly sort of propaganda function promoting American values and ways of doing things. In November 1948, Paul landed a posting in Paris and Julia, the Pasadena, California bred daughter of a conservative businessman, was in for the surprises of her life. She fell in love with French food at her first meal! With no job in France, she began working on her language skills and learning how to cook (a new task for her!). Soon, she decided she wanted to go to Cordon Bleu. After some misadventures, she finally passed with some modest skills designed to help a homemaker rather than a chef. But she made friends with others who loved French food and eventually became acquainted with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. The latter two had an informal agreement to publish a book on French cooking for Americans. But they had just lost their American collaborator. Julia stepped in.
From there, much of the book recounts the decades of painstaking work that went into creating that first book and its follow-ons in which Julia played the role of making the recipes work in American kitchens with American ingredients and utensils. It's truly mind-boggling. My respect for her work is unlimited!
The book finishes with explaining how Mastering became a best seller and Julia became a television star.
Along the way, you'll meet her favorite food vendors, tutors, chefs and guests. She'll also delight you with her mouth-watering menus and how dishes turned out under different circumstances.
The title of the book is a little misleading. The material also covers time spent in Germany, Norway and the United States. You also get a full look at her marriage and the great joy that both Childs brought to their love.
Throughout, the book is filled with little Julia-isms in that humorous self-deprecating style that we all came to love on The French Chef. She lards the text with some piquant French phrases and quotes (which are usually translated more mildly into English).
As an author, I found her process of finding a publisher and working with publishers to be quite fascinating.
In her last decades, the book is a picture of grace as she devoted herself to her husband, her old friends and to French cooking.
Bon appetit!...more info - Half good
I found the book interesting but like other reviewers before me, I lost interest midway, when Julia starts to talk too much about putting her cookbook together.
Then I read "M.F.K. Fisher among the Pots and Pans - Celebrating her kitchens", by Joan Reardon. This made me see the difference between the two cook/writers' approach to foods and I realized that M.F.K. is by far the best of the two in her perception of the French way of cooking: "A pinch of this, a shake of that...". Julia is so precise and mathematical in her measuring. The lengths to which she goes for measurements accuracy, for me, takes away the fun of French cooking I was born into! If I wanted to advise someone about the sensuousness and pleasure of cooking and eating in France, I would certainly recommend MFK's methods rather than Julia's.
If, on the other hand, you want to become a chef and prepare day in day out the same dishes, you will need precise measuring of ingredients for consistency. Same thing if you wish to write a cook book.
There is Home cooking, and there is Grand Restaurant cooking.
I feel MFK grasped the French approach to ingredients perfectly, and creative food preparation, from a very early age, and Joan Reardon has opened for me the whole work of MFK Fisher that I can't wait to start to read.
Julia's few shows I did watch never inspired me in the least, never got my juices going. But that's me!...more info - Faithfully captures Child's lively personality and her distinctive voice
Alex Prud'homme (Julia Child's husband's great-nephew) wrote My Life in France in the voice of his great-aunt after spending many afternoons interviewing Child, then in her nineties. This "memoir" faithfully captures Child's lively personality and her distinctive voice, down to her idiosyncratic expressions: "Phooey!" "Ouf!" and "Bravo!" The photographs included in the book add further authenticity.
My Life in France is not a complete life story. Rather, the focus is on Child's time abroad with her husband, Paul, who worked in various diplomatic capacities over the years. During this time, Child shed her provincial ideas and discovered her love of gourmet cooking and French food. The book includes a detailed account of the genesis and the sometimes frustrating development of Child's masterpiece, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This cookbookbrought French cooking within the grasp of American home cooks and is now widely regarded as a catalyst in the development of the appreciation of good food in America. My Life in France will appeal to lovers of French food and will inspire those who enjoy cooking. ...more info - A LOVE STORY, A MEMOIR, A TRIBUTE TO JULIA'S FRANCE
This book completely caught me by surprise. I picked it up at the library because I saw a sprinkling of French phrases throughout and thought it might make an interesting read. I studied two years of French in college, lived near Paris for a month when I was 19, and dream of taking my children to France for a visit someday.
Never would I have expected this book to be so life-changing for me! My first shock was that Julia didn't know how to cook when she married Paul in her mid-30s! She arrived in France knowing nothing about French cuisine, summarizing her view from the ship with this: "I was a six-foot-two-inch, thirty-six-year-old, rather loud and unserious Californian. The sight of France in my porthole was like a giant question mark."
Her years in Paris represented an awakening for Julia, and I held onto her every word. How many of us also have a dream, yet we feel like we're too old to even get started? Julia discovered French cooking to be her life's passion, her raison d'etre, and she dreamed of taking the techniques she learned at Le Cordon Bleu home to America.
The heart of this book for me was "the Book," with a capital 'B,' which Julia co-authored with two French women, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. The 700-page manuscript bounced around three different publishers before it finally settled under master editor, Judith Jones at Knopf. As a writer, I found her journey completely fascinating -- especially the process of how the title came to be. How different this book would have been if it had retained the original boring title of "French Home Cooking." Editor Judith Jones is the genius behind the title, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." C'est magnifique.
The book is a love story, highlighting Julia and Paul's happy marriage, as they lived in various cities in France, Germany, Norway, and finally the U.S. Paul's magnificent photos of French life add visual depth to this work. I also thought it was interesting that the book was written by her grand-nephew, who interviewed his great-aunt during her last years of life, piecing together decades of letters written by Julia and Paul to family members. What joy that must have brought her to see her story so eloquently written.
The book is laugh-out-loud funny at times, and I've become a lifelong Julia Child fan now. I must read her other books and watch "The French Chef" DVDs because I somehow missed the show when it was on PBS. (I guess I was too young.)
For anyone remotely interested in writing, publishing, cooking, or French life and food, this book is a must-read to add to your collection of favorite books. ...more info - A life of love
Julie Child taught us all how to enjoy food and the world of french cooking in depth. This story tells us so much more-a nice bedside book....more info - Charming and Impressionistic
If not quite an intimate self-portrait, this book was a slight, charming, and impressionistic memoir of halcyon France. Julia Child's unforgettable voice rang like a bell on every page. And I did learn how to make perfect (and I mean it) scrambled eggs....more info - Inspiring and fun!
What a fantastic, adventurous life Julia Child had the great fortune to lead! I learned so much about Julia as a person by reading My Life in France, and the details in this book made it that much more fun to go back to her first cookbook (I have a copy from 1965) to create more of those wonderful French dishes. The inspiration really came when I discovered that Julia didn't even take her first cooking school until the age of 37! As a 37 year old myself, it truly opened my eyes to the possibilities that are on the horizon. Julia passed away before the book was finished, which made me recognize how Alex Prud'homme's writing captured the very essence of Julia in this wonderful work. Don't worry if you are not into food, wine, or cooking, if you love the human spirit you will love this book. I'll never make scrambled eggs any other way.... ...more info - not what I expected
I very much enjoyed Julia's descriptions of beautiful France, wonderful food, painstaking work, and life with her devoted husband, Paul. She did seem a bit full of herself at times and forgot that not everyone has the privilege of life abroad. I also found myself frustrated with her obstinacy toward her father; after all, she was a grown woman and he, an old man set in his ways. Why engage him in political discussions at all? Altogether, though, an enjoyable look at Julia's life and 1950's France....more info - The Real Julia
I and many friends found "My Life in France" to be one of most moving books of the year. It is a very revealing, and poignant look at somebody we thought was already well known. ...more info - Makes me want to move to France!
This book chronicles Julia's amazing life in France. I feel inspired by Julia's story. It truly shows you can find your calling at almost any time in life....more info - Kitchen caper
Things that Julia Child loved most in life included her husband Paul and the country France. After marrying in 1946 and living in Washington, D.C. for two years, Julia and Paul Child went to Paris. Paul was to work for the government, the USIS, at the French embassy.
Before arriving in Paris there was Rouen. The couple ate at La Couronne. The waiter advised them that the Dorin family, the owners of La Couronne, had a restaurant in Paris, La Truite. Julia signed up for French classes at Berlitz, (she liked to talk and was frustrated). Paris was walkable. Le Grand Vefour was one of the more famous old Parisian restaurants. It had been in business since 1750. Service was deft and the food was spectacular. The restaurant kept a special seat for Colette.
Julia arrived at the Ecole du Cordon Bleu in October, 1949. She signed up for a year-long course. Eleven former GIs were in the class, under the auspices of the GI Bill of Rights. The professor was Chef Bugnard, a gem. He had enthusiasm and thoughtfulness. Shopping for food with him in Paris could be a life-changing experience. Introductions and the instruction were important to Julia Child since the French are sensitive to personal dynamics.
Paul called their kitchen Julia's alchemist's aerie. Julia met both Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle in 1951. They had been trying to produce a cookbook of French cooking for the U.S. market. They had been told by Dorothy Canfield Fisher that their efforts were too dry. Also, Americans ate a lot of meat and used a lot of processed food in their cooking. They were told to collaborate with an American who was crazy about French food.
Simone, Julia, and Louisette began a school called L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes. Right from the beginning they had three students. Julia Child found that in explaining French cooking chauvinism and dogmatism were deeply engrained. She had an urge to say that the word was not the thing.
In 1953 Paul and Julia moved to Marseilles for Paul's work. The first flat they had in an Art Deco building overlooked the old port. It was learned that McCarthy's investigators, Cohn and Schine, were in Paris in search of evidence of disloyalty. It was a shame and a disgrace. They sought to interview people about the contents of the embassy library.
The USIS changed to the USIA had trimmed Paul's staff of twelve to four. After a year and a half in Marseille, Paul was transferred to Bonn. The couple moved to Germany in 1954. In 1955 Paul received notice to report to Washington, D.C. immediately. He was being investigated.
In 1956 the Childs returned to the U.S. for good. MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING was published by Knopf. James Beard helped with the launch. Julia was interviewed on WGBH, a book program. Retiring from the USIA Paul and Julia planned to live in Cambridge, MA. In 1962 three experimental half hour shows were taped for WGBH. The experiment was called THE FRENCH CHEF.
Eh voila, (here it is)--this is a good book! One learns reading this memoir that Julia Child loved using a lot of exclamation points. The book contains a number of fine photographs, too, serving to enhance the lively text. ...more info - My Life in France
Interesting book. Too much detail presented on the meals. The pictures give it a personal touch and help to put the characters into context. ...more info - Julia being Julia and doing it well.
For those who find Julia Child's recipes to be to their liking, plus those who appreciate her refreshingly irreverent attitude toward the culinary arts, will enjoy this book. That is by no means said in a critical way, but recognizes that Julia's manner can sometimes be off-putting to those who take their cooking rather too seriously. I enjoyed reading about her beginnings in Paris and her difficulty in establishing herself in the male dominated world of cooking. Her trials in getting her first books published is a most interesting story of that male domination. She tells an interesting story.
...more info
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