My Life in France in Around the World

Oct 15, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it really liked it

Shelves: biography, cookbooks, non-fiction, ultimate-reading-list, 2013-around-the-world, memoir

I found this an absorbing read, and I'm no foodie. But I think what's striking in this memoir of Child's love affair with French food is her drive, her dedication to excellence, her passion--there's something attractive in that no matter what the endeavor--as well as fascinating to get a picture of such an elite, esoteric world as high cuisine. It all started for Julia in 1948, when she had her first French meal. When she came to France she knew only a smattering of such French phrases as "Merci I found this an absorbing read, and I'm no foodie. But I think what's striking in this memoir of Child's love affair with French food is her drive, her dedication to excellence, her passion--there's something attractive in that no matter what the endeavor--as well as fascinating to get a picture of such an elite, esoteric world as high cuisine. It all started for Julia in 1948, when she had her first French meal. When she came to France she knew only a smattering of such French phrases as "Merci, Monsieur" (wretchedly pronounced) and was a terrible cook. She didn't even know what a shallot was, let alone what to do with one. One taste of sole meunière and she had an "epiphany." One that would lead her to study French cooking at the renowned Cordon Bleu culinary school, learning to cook everything from "snails to wild boar" and eventually lead to her collaboration on the ground-breaking cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking and to her television show, The French Chef.

I'm not even sure after reading this if I like Julia Child. She came across at times as ruthless (she calls herself "unsentimental"), stubborn, opinionated--and ironically dismissive of those of different beliefs. I say ironically because she's so hard especially on her father and what she considered his ignorant views and intolerance. She was a liberal Democrat, he was a conservative Republican. And therefore, it seems to her, naturally a boob compared to the sophisticated Julia. Except that as she admits, it was only due to his generosity that she and her husband, living on his salary as a government employee, could live an affluent lifestyle consuming fine wines, escargot, truffles, Camembert cheese and foie gras. (Admittedly, one can understand her bitterness towards the GOP given what she related about her husband's brush with McCarthyism.) And while Child paints her father as xenophobic--well, her comments on the English made me cringe, and she characterized Germany as a "land of monsters." (Admittedly, when she and her husband were posted to Bonn, it hadn't been long since World War II. As for the English, she didn't care for their cooking--and that seems to have been a capital crime to Julia Child.)

Did I mention this is about a love affair with French cooking? Because it is. This made me salivate at the descriptions of Brie, bouillabaisse, baguettes. On the other hand, my vegetarian friend would probably find this book nauseating, and there's enough odes to red meat, cream, mayonnaise--and above all butter--to make a cardiologist weep. Nor could I imagine putting the effort, the time and expense, into cooking that Child described here. I'll happily leave the making of brioche and quenelles de brochet to professionals and limit myself to recipes no more complicated than tabbouleh. But I did enjoy the picture of post-war Europe. This was written by Child with the help of her grandnephew and based on the letters her and husband wrote at the time, so her reminiscences, especially of her time in Paris and Marseilles, are vivid and evocative. ...more

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Apr 24, 2007 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read2007, favorites, foodie, location-france, read2009

After World War II, Julia Child lived with her husband Paul in Paris and Marseilles, where they worked for the U.S. government (pre-CIA type work) and she found herself attending Le Cordon Bleu and becoming a chef who could teach others how to master French cooking. I was really into this book for 200 pages or so and then the going go tedious. It is saved by Julia's humorous outlook on life, and her wonderful descriptions of people, food, and French culture. Much of the book was constructed from ...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Marieke rated it it was amazing

Shelves: europe, memoir, non-fiction, history, sf11, travel, united-states, 2011, fun, food

i am jealous of Alex Prud'homme. I wish Julia Child was *my* aunt. she is funny, honest, everything awesome. i can't say i'm knowledgeable about anything French, especially French food, but that absolutely did not matter while reading this book. in fact, i didn't want the book to end. now i plan to watch every episode of The French Chef and read her other books. maybe i'll blog about it. and get a wicked book deal. and a movie. just kidding... ;)
really and truly, i loved this book...and it was a ...more

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Jul 03, 2017 Cooper rated it it was amazing

Like Julia's boeuf bourguignon, I savored every story told in My Life in France. Her journey to becoming THE Julia Child was engaging, funny, mouthwatering, and inspiring. Her passion and love of France and their food is a consistent theme throughout and when she describes either what she's eating or what she's cooking, my mouth begins to salivate like Pavlov's dog.

Her love affair with Paul is beautiful and heartwarming. Paul himself was an interesting man who's love of art and passion for pain ...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Kathleen Valentine rated it it was amazing

Back in the 1970s I was on my own and, though I had grown up in a family of excellent cooks and had done a lot of cooking myself, I wanted to do new recipes so I bought Julia Child and Company. I loved the book and I swear that to this day I cook things that are variations on the recipes in that book. So when I came across Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France, I just had to read it. I loved every page of it.

First of all she has a folksy, down-home way of writing that is really just like the w Back in the 1970s I was on my own and, though I had grown up in a family of excellent cooks and had done a lot of cooking myself, I wanted to do new recipes so I bought Julia Child and Company. I loved the book and I swear that to this day I cook things that are variations on the recipes in that book. So when I came across Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France, I just had to read it. I loved every page of it.

First of all she has a folksy, down-home way of writing that is really just like the way she talked in her cooking shows. She complains about her cranky old father, gossips about her writing partner's difficult personality, gushes over her culinary explorations of Paris, and every page drips with her endless love for her husband Paul. Of course, I have long been of the opinion that I should have been born in Paris – not Paris as it is now but Paris as it was for Hemingway and Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound and now Julia.

Speaking of Hemingway, one of the first friends Julia and Paul Child made when they moved to Paris was Hadley Mowser, the first Mrs. Ernest Hemingway, and the subject of the wildly popular novel, The Paris Wife. In fact, Julia was the maid of honor at Jack (Bumby) Hemingway's wedding. I loved that and reassured me that, had I been born when and where I was supposed to, I probably would have been at that wedding. Of course, I'd be dead now, too.

But the book is just marvelous. Julia McWilliams grew up in California and during WWII she wanted to join up but at 6'2” she was too tall to be a WAC so she joined the OSS where she met Paul Child who was to become the love her life. After the war they married and he was assigned to a diplomatic bureau in Paris. She went with her husband and soon discovered that the food of Paris was light years from the food of California! Exploring cheese shops and bakeries and produce stands and wine shops she quickly decided that she needed to learn to cook authentic French food and thus enrolled in the Cordon Bleu. Her descriptions of her absolute passion for food and for French cooking fills the rest of the books with added commentary on her travels and then he attempts to publish her first great cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. If anyone thinks publishing is difficult now they need to read this book!

This book is an absolute joy because its author has take such joy in so much – food, cooking, Paris, her friends, her husband, and life. The Joy of Julia. She introduces readers to a huge array of fascinating characters and constantly tantalizes the senses with descriptions of the marketplaces, shops, restaurants and kitchens of Paris, the Marseilles, and finally Provence. A wonderful read written by an American treasure with a massive appetite for life. Bon appétit, Julia, wherever you are! ...more

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May 16, 2016 K rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoirs, expat-reads, feminism-reads, food-writing

The GREATEST expat book of all time.
Even "A Movable Feast" and "The Sun Also Rises"
get in line after Julia Child.

This is a masterpiece of how to live a life. ...more

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Nov 22, 2011 Cathy rated it it was amazing

This book is not just about food but food as a metaphor for living life with gusto. Julia Child had gusto to burn and an appetite for life that just grabs you and sets you down at her table. The post World War II era, France, and her husband Paul were a magical combination. French cooking was at its zenith and she had the time, encouragement, and perspicacity to take up the challenge of French cooking. Her return to America was also fortunate; she capitalized on her book and skills to create coo ...more

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Jun 12, 2009 Teelei rated it it was amazing

Loved this book - combines two of my favorite genres, food and travel. Julia had a very interesting life and you have to admire a woman who discovered her two great passions (her husband and a love of cooking) later in life.

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May 19, 2017 Beth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoir, cooking, france

I listened to this book on Audible after just having moved to France. I took great comfort in her persepctives, adventures and observations about culture, and what it takes to settle in to a new culture and country.

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Dec 28, 2016 Jane rated it really liked it

Shelves: aaaudio-book, monthly-award, read-before-europe, 2016

Need to try some of her recipes from the cookbook. Reading this book remind me of seen her kitchen at the Smithsonian about eight years ago. Neat exhibit.

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