My Life in France by Julia Child, Alex Prud'homme

NATIONAL BESTSELLER ? Julia's story of her transformative years in France in her own words is captivating ... her marvelously distinctive voice is present on every page. (San Francisco Chronicle). Although she would later singlehandedly create a new approach to American cuisine with her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her television show The French Chef, Julia Child 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--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 the Childs across the globe--unfolds with the spirit so key to Julia's success as a chef and a writer, brilliantly capturing one of America's most endearing personalities. Editorial Reviews A delight. --The New York Times What a joy! --The Washington Post Endlessly engaging. --The Philadelphia Inquirer Inspiring. --Entertainment Weekly Delighful and ebulliently written. . . . Her joy just about jumps off the books pages. --Christian Science Monitor Lively, infectious. . . . Her elegant but unfussy prose pulls the reader into her stories. --Chicago Sun-Times Captivating. . . . Her marvelously distinctive voice is present on every page. --San Francisco Chronicle - From the Publisher When she arrived in France, she was a gawky, six-foot-two, wide-eyed girl from Pasadena, unable to cook; or, for that matter, speak French. Despite this inauspicious beginning, 32-year-old Julia Child was to transform herself into a Gallic cooking genius. In this memoir, completed after her 2004 death by her grandnephew, Child reminisces about her culinary training, her life in France, and her beloved husband, Paul. - The result is a delight. On one level, it's the story of how a 6-foot-2-inch, 36-year-old, rather loud and unserious Californian -- her words -- discovered the fullness of life in France. On another, it recounts the making of Julia Child, America's grande dame of French cooking. Inevitably, the stories overlap. - The New York Times - Alan Riding And so our last communication from Julia Child can double as a tour book. Quelle joie ! Child couldn't have planned it any better had she tried. Or maybe she was trying to teach us right up to the very end. - The Washington Post - Nancy McKeon Famed chef Child, who died in 2004, recounts her life in France, beginning with her early days at the Cordon Bleu after WWII. Greenberg, an actress for radio and commercials, does a fine job capturing Child's joie de vivre and unmatched skill as a culinary animateur. We hear Child's delight and excitement when she discovers her calling as a writer and hands-on teacher of haute cuisine; her exasperation as yet another publishing house rejects her ever-growing monster of a manuscript; and her joy at its publication and acclaimed reception after more than a decade of work. Child's opinionated exuberance translates remarkably well to audio, from her initial Brahmin-like dismissal of the new medium of television (why would Americans want to waste a perfectly good evening staring into a box, she wondered?) and frustration at her diplomat husband being investigated in the McCarthy-driven 1950s to her ecstasy about roast chicken and mulish insistence on the one correct method to make French bread at home. The seamless abridgment has no jarring gaps or abrupt transitions to mar the listener's enjoyment. Potential listeners should beware, however: this is not a book to hear on an empty stomach. Bon app tit! Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 13). (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Lovingly cumulated from letters written by Child and her diplomat husband, Paul, as well as interviews with the author in her later years, My Life in France recounts the formative years of her development into a world-renowned chef. The book captures her unique voice in its elaborate descriptions of the sights and sounds of postwar France and its sumptuous and memorable meals. The title is deceptive, however; this recollection is much more than the story of Child's years in France and her time at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school. Much of this memoir is dedicated to the years that followed, her experiences as she moved about Europe and finally settled in Cambridge, MA. One significant episode is Child's work with Simon Beck and Louisette Bertholle and their numerous failures and ultimate success at writing a French cookbook for an American audience, the critically acclaimed and classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The narration provided by Kimberly Farr is a good match for the subject matter; her pronunciation of the French phrases peppering the narrative is excellent. Recommended for general audiobook collections.-Dawn Eckenrode, Daniel A. Reed Lib., SUNY at Fredonia Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Library Journal Ooh, those lovely roasted, buttery French chickens, they were so good and chickeny! Anyone who remembers the iconic, deceased Julia Child (1912-2004)-or perhaps Dan Aykroyd's affectionate imitation of her-will recognize the singular voice. It's employed in this memoir to full advantage, and to the reader's great pleasure. As relative and writer Prud'homme recalls, at the end of her long life, Child was busily recording her years as a budding chef. In 1948, newly wed, she moved to Paris with her diplomat husband Paul, whom she had met while on wartime duty for the OSS (now there would be a story) in Asia. The first meal she cooked for him, she recalls, was a disaster, and she arrived in France a six-foot-two-inch, thirty-six-year-old, rather loud and unserious Californian, but in every aspect of her life, she was determined to do better. With self-effacing humor, Child recalls her efforts at learning French, finding an apartment and coping with life in a different culture. No matter how embarrassing or baffling the course of her learning curve, Child's francophilia and zest for life shine through, and nowhere more than in the pages devoted to her sentimental education at the Cordon Bleu, the world-renowned culinary institute, in whose cramped basement she learned how to glaze carrots and onions at the same time as roasting a pigeon, and how to use the concentrated vegetable juices to fortify the pigeon flavor, and vice versa, among other talents. Matching her growing skills with a formidable armada of kitchen gadgets that will make cookery-loving readers swoon, she then recounts the difficult conception and extremely difficult birth of her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking,which brought her fame. Charming, idiosyncratic and much fun-just like its author, who is very much alive in these pages. A blessing for lovers of France, food and fine writing. First printing of 150,000; first serial to the New York Times Magazine & Bon Appetit; Book-of-the-Month Book Club main selection; Quality Paperback Book Club alternate selection - Kirkus Reviews MY LIFE IN FRANCE opens in 1948 with a newly married Julia Child seeing Le Havre, France, for the first time. Relying on detailed letters her husband sent to his twin brother, Julia shares anecdotes of food and wine, new marriage, and life in Paris and at the Cordon Bleu. The book moves through Julia's collaboration on the seminal MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING and her experiences with her PBS cooking show, The French Chef. While Kimberly Farr's voice is a bit too smooth to accurately portray Child's highly recognizable and energetic style, she handles the many French terms with grace, and the overall effect is enjoyable. D.J.P. AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine - DEC 06/JAN 07 - AudioFile