Julia Child

3.5 stars

This is a (short) biography of Julia Child, though the bulk of it does focus on her career, food, and cooking. Julia, of course, learned to cook in France, and she was not a natural at it! She later wrote cookbooks and hosted tv shows. Her first tv show in the ‘50s was very popular and it catapulted her to stardom. People loved her. Though the cooking may have been more work than housewives wanted at the time (when convenience foods were becoming popular), Julia insisted her show wasn’t for housewives, anyway.

I listened to the audio, which was entertaining. The narrator did a decent job of Julia’s voice, I think. It didn’t sound exactly, but I can’t say for sure, as I’ve never watched Julia’s shows. I am also not show more “into” cooking, so the detailed descriptions of cooking and food might be of more interest to someone who does like cooking and/or is more of a “foodie” than I am. It was unfortunate to learn of Julia’s homophobia, although I suppose she was a product of her time (even though she and her husband, Paul, knew and were friends with gay people). show less

Delightful short biography of The French Chef. I had no idea Child was in the OSS, but she was- and she kept her signaling mirror in her kitchen drawer ever after, just in case. Lots of fascinating facts, warmly told. Too short by half.

Maybe it's because I've already read three other books about Julia. There was not much in this one that was new, except Julia's attitude towards Gays which was not admirable, and her rejection of the movement to improve the food industry and remove irradiated foods, and other food manipulations from our market was disappointing. I had always thought of Julia as having high standards when it came to food and cooking and this acceptance of whatever the food industry told her over when should have been her common sense was surprising. Her dislike of Gays was precisely like here father's dislike of Jews, intellectuals, artists, and she hated that. But apparently, as Shapir says, she couldn't see the contradiction. So maybe it was not as show more enjoyable a read as I had hoped because it made Julia a little less admirable.... and a little more human.

For someone who hasn't read My Life in France, Appetite for Life, and her letters (As Always, Julia), this isn't a bad book. Its main weakness is that once it arrives at the point where she begins working on Mastering the Art of French Cooking, it pulls away from being a biography, and becomes a just history of her career. show less

Loved this biography. Short and easy to get into. Julia's life is so charming and inspirational. The author makes a point of describing the tone and atmosphere of Julia's TV episodes too. I felt like I really got to know her.

I enjoyed what I read of this book, but then I realized that it was essentially the same stories I read in My Life in France--which was a really wonderful book. And I read My Life in France too recently to feel like re-reading these stories, you know?

I really, really admire Julia Child more than ever and I want to learn more about her!