I read Julia Child's memoir back in February while on vaca and loved every word. She was truly one of a kind and led an amazing life – a life that was certainly worthy of it's own bio-pic instead of some soft Hollywood hybrid. Julie & Julia opens this weekend and I'm weary but will go see it. Luckily, it has the remarkable Meryl Streep – so I know I'm guaranteed to enjoy her portion.
If you can bare it, here's my "book report" on My Life in France as originally published on The Pink Cannonball:
Title and author: My Life in France/Julia Child, 333 pages
One sentence summary of the book: Julia Child's metamorphosis into a French cooking wizard through her experiences with her husband Paul in France in the 1950s and 60s.
Something I learned: Julia only learned to cook in her late thirties. What I found remarkable was that she discovered a profound passion and her life’s calling at that age. One often thinks that that sort of discovery and mastery would happen earlier on in life but it didn’t for her and never slowed her down. It was as if once that door was opened – she sunk her teeth into it and never let go.
Best part: Her passion and curiosity for food knew no boundaries and leapt off the page. She sought out experts on everything and learned from them while her enthusiasm motivated those around her to help and get involved.
Worst part: It definitely would have been interesting to hear about her time in Germany and Norway as well and what happened during the McCarthy investigation done on her husband, but I also felt it wrapped everything up at the end a bit too abruptly. That said, she did die before the book was completed so that might account for it. ;-(
Yeah or Neah: Yeah! She’s an inspiring woman who worked extremely hard and earned her success. She researched, experimented and really pushed herself with no short cuts. Every recipe she’s ever put into a book was tested endlessly, refined, tested again and then given the Julia seal of approval. Her first book took 10 years to write because of this! She also was extremely disciplined – whenever she needed to demonstrate a segment on TV, she would rehearse several times beforehand to get the timing and coordination right.
Why this book? I love anything to do with France and good food. I also love biographies – so it was a winning combination. Also, when I was on a trip to D.C. with my beloved friends visiting the Smithsonian Institute, we saw her famous kitchen there re-assembled from her home base, where all of her cooking shows were taped. I thought it was so neat and charming.
Anything else? Julia had the conviction of self to stay the course and not change the format or length of her first ground-breaking book even though it was rejected several times. She believed that there were others out there like her that wanted to master French cooking in an accessible manner with the types of ingredients and tools found in the common American kitchen. She was innovative and had a singular focus which I admire. I also loved how utterly supportive and loving her relationship with her husband appeared to be. They were a real team.
To watch the old bird make an omelet, click here
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