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My Life in France (精装)
by Julia Child
| Category:
Cookbook, Original books |
| Market price: ¥ 268.00
MSL price:
¥ 248.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
"The pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite - toujours bon appetit!" This is a book not only about food but also about life - a wise life, a life of beauty, art and invention, as well as a passion for travel and the tastes of other cultures. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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Joanne Jerrell (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
With every word I sensed I was there. I could smell the air, feel the cold and want a blanket. I lusted to be able to taste the foods she talked about. I laughed when she described her first attempts at food preparation. I loved that she was pragmatic and yet extravagant about cooking utinsels. Her husband was very encouraging of her endeavors. Together they shared a life and a love, but it was more, they shared a passion for travel and the tastes of other cultures. My mouth salivated as she toured the markets. Her French was horrible by her own admission but her genuine interest in the culture won out with shop owners. It is a delicious read.
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Ellie Reasoner (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
Julia Child's funny, bubbly, colorful and bright account of her 1940's life-changing stay in France (where her husband was a diplomat) is one of the most enjoyable and interesting books I've had the pleasure of reading. These stories of how Child discovered the culinary delights of France (long before she became America's most beloved television chef) are a lot of fun! Child's unusual gift for blending self-deprecation with appealing self-confidence has never been more finely tuned. This book is great as a biography, as an account of a nation during a time and place, as a tale of the refined culinary arts, and it even works as the sort of travelogue that evokes the locations being described. In the imagination the senses smell the baking bread Julia describes, we hear the running of those ancient rivers in the lush French countryside, and we can all-but taste the magnificent dishes about which she writes with such keen comprehension and reverence. We all miss Julia Child, but this reminder of her class and charm (as well as her devotion to French cooking) brings back her greatness. Easily a five-star book! |
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T. Mylan (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
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. |
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Heather Ivester (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
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. |
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Carolyn Wiedeman (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
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. |
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Jeffrey B. (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
It was Julia Child who taught a generation of us how to cook, and my, how we still miss her. This lovely book, wonderfully edited by Alex Prud'homme, is a collection of Julia's recollections, mainly from France, in the early years of her culinary exploits. As such, it is a fascinating read and a delightful experience. Amd Paul Child's photographs of the younger Julia and Paris in the 1960s alone is worth the price, almost. My only qualm with the book is that I wonder how much is actually Child and how much in Prud'home. Certainly, with any book published posthumously, one must wonder. But it's certainly a worthwhile addition to any Julia Child fan's library. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
What a delightful read! Just made me feel good all over to read the story of how Julia Child's career got started and the years that followed - her books, TV shows, and all that. Her love affair with food, France, and life were a joy to read. It helps if you have some familiarity with French (which, alas, I don't), but it doesn't take away from the lovely writing and the story itself. If Julia and French cooking interest you, you are bound to enjoy this book as much as I did.
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Mizsak (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
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. |
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JeanE (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
I became aware of this book through reading a magazine excerpt in advance of publication last winter, and I could barely wait to get my hands on a copy. It did not disappoint; the book was a revelation and continues to affect me months later. Young Julia fairly jumps out of the page in a new and fresh way that dispels images of the caricature older Julia. In her completely open style, she draws you in so that from page one you are right there with her, walking the streets, smelling the air, tasting the food, and meeting the people of Julia's France. She and her co-author neither overdramatize nor pull punches in describing her experiences at the Cordon Bleu, her first successes and failures with preparing French cuisine, and her extraordinary relationship with her husband. The book is funny, sad, loving, and (sometimes brutally) honest. Julia's amazing combination of determinedness, aplomb, and old-fashioned hard work ensured her success in every ground-breaking endeavor she attempted - whether it was learning to cook traditional French food, opening a cooking school, compiling and editing a definitive French cookbook for Americans, or demonstrating how to cook on TV for the first time. It's one of the most inspirational memoirs I've ever read; I recommend it to everyone I know. It's a great book to read along with a friend or a book club - there's much in here to elicit comment and wonder. |
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E. Jankowski (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-25 00:00>
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. |
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1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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