My Life in France

by Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme

book data

7,585 ratings, 4.09 average rating, 2,385 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		33%
4		45%
3		18%
2		2%
1		0%

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published

April 4th 2006 by RH Audio (first published 2006)

details

Audio CD

setting

United States

isbn

0739325264 (isbn13: 9780739325261)

description

In her own words, here is the story of Julia Child's years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found her "true calling." …more

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Mar 14, 2008

Izzy rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

bookshelves: bio, food, travel

Read in April, 2008

recommended to Izzy by: Melissa

I think the reasons I wanted to read this book are that Julia's always thought of as a late bloomer, and because her travels were so influential in helping her discover herself.

Certainly, her life had great adventure.

Highlights: p. 268

Too tired and busy to go to France. "But then we looked at each other and repeated a favorite phrase from our diplomatic days: "Remember, 'No one's more important than people.'!" In other words, friendship is the ...more I think the reasons I wanted to read this book are that Julia's always thought of as a late bloomer, and because her travels were so influential in helping her discover herself.

Certainly, her life had great adventure.

Highlights: p. 268

Too tired and busy to go to France. "But then we looked at each other and repeated a favorite phrase from our diplomatic days: "Remember, 'No one's more important than people.'!" In other words, friendship is the most important thing - not career or housework, or one's fatigue - and it needs to be tended and nurtured. So we packed up our bags and off we went. And thank heaven we did!"

Her description of Provence, which she admits has changed since: "It was the cool, early-morning layers of fog in the valleys; Esterel's volcanic mountains jutting up out of the glittering sea; the warming Provencal sun and bright-blue sky; the odor of earth and cow dung and burning grapevine prunings; the colorful violets and irises and mimosas; the olives blackening; the sound of little owls talking back and forth; the sea-bottom taste of Belon oysters; the noisy fun of the marketplace; the deeply quiet, sparkling nights with a crescent moon hanging overhead like a lamp. "

What does it mean that the prose gets better near the end? I want to sail to Europe; how much more fun than flying! I want to see my car brought out of the cargo hold on by a crane.

I just saw a biography about Julia. It really was Paul who introduced her to food. But should you fault where you hear about that which you're destined to know of? And she pretty much comes out and says he dated every woman in Ceylon before he considered her. The biography used his letters to show how he was critical of her at first and then warmed up. What am I supposed to feel about this? I admire her tenacity; yet I'd be unwilling to date someone who noticed me as late as second. She has a different kind of attitude about life that really makes me think. She mentions that they would have welcomed children. I think, though she was very liberal, you couldn't call her modern. Maybe that's not so bad; I just don't think most people would do things this way. And maybe she stayed up nights crying, but she really seems too no-nonsense for that. Meanwhile, knowing I'm fairly young, I still worry about the appropriate time to have children, oh, nonstop. I kinda wish I could just make that kind of commitment to my own husband, so that I could focus on something else. But, for me, I always am never really sure if I'll want to be with him in five years. What do you think it's like to be not restless? But maybe she finally found that in cooking? Maybe I'll find myself someday.(less)

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

3 comments

Sep 09, 2008

Melissa rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

Oh, how I love and adore this book. It's one of the best I've read lately, combining as it does my love of France, Julia, and food in one funny, touching package. Julia Child was such a unique, eccentric, brilliant woman, and I'm always inspired when I realize that she struggled along at loose ends for years before finding her true passion and calling.

Her marriage to Paul Child is beautifully portrayed in the book. He was quite a worldly, erudite man, and very forward-thinking for hi...more

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Sep 03, 2008

Tim rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

Lighthearted and fun recollections of Julia's first years in France. Highly recommended for anyone already enthralled by Julia, whether by her television programs or her excellent cookbooks.

Readers who do not know Julia may find the book a little too rambling, and a little too focused on food they've never tasted and have no idea what it even is (often she does not give translations for food names).

As noted in the introduction, the book was pieced together from conversation...more

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Dec 21, 2007

Lisa rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

bookshelves: for-the-love-of-food

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: cooks, learners, late bloomers, europhiles

This book was largely ghost-written by a nephew of Julia's husband. Despite that, it was really quite good, and he spent hundreds of hours with her, listening to her stories and capturing her distinct vernacular. I had always suspected that Julia was an exceptional woman, and this book verified that for me. I expected a limited memoir of her years in France after she and Paul married, but it covered her time from then until around the time of her husband Paul's death in 1994. She arrived in ...more

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Aug 31, 2009

Mahlon rated it:

(review of other edition)

bookshelves: read-2009

Read in October, 2009

recommended to Mahlon by: Saw Julie and Julia
recommends it for: Julia fans, foodies, people who like travel writing, lovers of good Biography

I've never been a fan of Julia Child, and whenever I ran across her show on PBS I'd make a conscious effort to change the channel, which was why I was surprised when My Life in France turned out to be one of the most well-written, engaging Autobiographies I've read in quite awhile. The book covers roughly the same time period as the movie Julie & Julia except that it extends into the mid-70's and discusses the beginning of her TV career and the writing of her second book. Even though it was comp...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

4 comments

Feb 26, 2008

Yvonne rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

Read in March, 2008

This was a Christmas gift from my best-friend-forever Ariel, and a perfect read not only for foodies and urban farmgirls like myself, but anyone who's going through the "if not now, when?" blues. As some previous Goodreaders have already noted, it's a bit of a revelation to read about someone so famous (or infamous, if you've seen Dan Ackroyd's histrionic impersonation of "Jules") being such a late bloomer. This is America, and even though Miss Thing found herself in France, ...more

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Sep 23, 2007

Tien rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

I kind of think of Julia of the best example of most everything, including:
- a bad cook (she was really, really horrible when she started);
- a great cook (obviously)
- a wayward child/late bloomer (didn't touch a pan until she was 36)
- a once-spoiled-now-reformed upper classman (grew up in Pasadena)
- what to do when living in France (eat, learn to cook, eat more)
- a foodie (not snobby, just loves food)
- an American (see above, re: Pasadena)
- a teac...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

2 comments

Aug 11, 2007

Valerie rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: Food Bloggers

I loved this book! I learned about it after hearing a discussion about it on NPR shortly after publication. I'm not sure exactly what makes it so compelling to me, because I am not a cook, but I think it's the unpretentious look-at-me-ness that was Julia Child. Alex Prud'homme carefully captured Julia Child's voice and the force of her personality. Even when at times she seemed a little unlikeable, you're still drawn in by her fearless and adventurous nature. This book is also a great slice of l...more

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Jan 27, 2008

Agnes rated it:

(review of isbn 0307277690)

Read in October, 2008

recommended to Agnes by: Liz Glasgow
recommends it for: Interested in living abroad and/or cooking

I love Julia Child, it turns out! This memoir is fun and I want to live her life. I want to live in Paris, Marseille, Oslo and Boston too, creating sumptuous recipes, hanging out with James Beard and decorating a summer house in Provence. Seriously, why am I not her? I wouldn't even mind being dead since 2004.

I am totally convinced that her cookbooks are the foremost authorities on French cooking, now that I've seen how many times she would experiment with a basic recipe to get i...more

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

5 comments

Oct 08, 2009

Beth rated it:

(review of isbn 0307474852)

Read in November, 2009

Although I picked up this book because of the movie, "Julie and Julia," I soon forgot Meryl Streep and got caught up in the world of Paris just after WWII. Child's descriptions of her life in Paris in the late 1940s/early 1950 definitely made me wish I could have been there. She and her husband, Paul Child (a former OSS officer, then later a sort of cultural attache with the Foreign Service) lived life to the fullest there -- eating amazing food (out, and at home), drinking lots of ...more

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Aug 08, 2008

amy rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

This is a really fun read. (Except the part where she experiments with making the best mayo ever. Blech.)

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

1 comment

Aug 12, 2008

Shippseattle rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

April 4th 2006 by Knopf
binding Hardcover
isbn 1400043468 (isbn13: 9781400043460)
pages 336
description In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child’s years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found ‘he...more

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In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child’s years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found ‘her true calling.’

From the moment the sh...more

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May 27, 2008

Kate rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

Read in July, 2008

This book is like having a nice glass of wine and some bouillabaisse with an old friend-- Julia takes you along her journey from bureaucrat to francophile's wife to avid amateur chef to the woman who changed cooking in America and makes it sound like a christmas letter to old friends. You see, old Julia (she used to be Julie McWilliams) moved from Southern California to Smith (go women's college alumnae!) to Ceylon (now India), met up with her "egghead" (and shorter-- Ms. McWilliams wa...more

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May 02, 2008

Rhonda rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

bookshelves: read-in-2008

Read in February, 2008

ooh i loved this book. Julia has way of writing that invites you in. It's like you are old friends talking about her memories. Some things I learned about Julia.
• She was tall (same as me) and had big feet (same size as me 12)
• She and her husband Paul never ended up having any kids although they tried for years.
• Julia moved to France after her and Paul were married since Paul worked for the US governent. He promoted the Us culture to the French. He worked all day and she l...more

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Mar 12, 2008

Becka rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

bookshelves: europe, travel

recommends it for: Shira, Julie C.

Engaging, lively, and chockful of descriptions of both decadent and simple French dishes, Julia Child's memoir of her five years in la belle France during the late 1940s and her subsequent returns to the country for cooking consultations and vacationing in Provence, is a refreshing, fun and breezy escape from the travails of modern life in an increasingly impersonal, fast-paced world. Not only does the book describe how Child became renowned for her cookery, it also paints an evocative picture ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

Aug 16, 2007

Deborah Joyner rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

bookshelves: nonfiction

Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: foodies

There is only one Julia Child. Having see one of her many kitchens at the Copia museum in Napa, Ca (there is one at the Smithsonian as well), I had a desire to learn a little bit more about the woman who brought French cooking to America. I had greatly enjoyed the book Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, although I never have had any desire to try my hand at haute cuisine. Her descriptions of food, France, life, and love are inspiring, especially to think she was we...more

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Mar 24, 2008

Christine rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

Read in May, 2008

I love Julia Child, and she is one of my lifetime heroes. This book was an amusing and thoughtful window into her life and thought processes.

She found her life calling for French cuisine when she was well into her thirties, and approached the topic with curiosity, discipline, and fierce energy. I think this means that there is still hope for me to find my true career and inspiration.

If you want to learn how to do something, or change your life, it requires hard work...more

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Jul 15, 2007

Jamie rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

bookshelves: biography

Read in August, 2007

Man, it took me a long time to read this book. I had a really hard time getting into it, but once I got to the point where she began to learn to cook I found it was a much better book. (Did you know that there was a time when Julia Child wasn't such a good cook? I found that to be both comforting and inspirational.)

This book did it's job - I'm now hunting down more of her cookbooks to order and learn from. She also had another good piece of advice in there when she said that she ...more

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Jun 07, 2009

Helen rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

bookshelves: cooking, julia-child

Read in January, 2007

What a beautiful story of a life well lived. I realy knew nothing of Julia Child except that she had a cooking show in Channel 8 (that my daughter used to watch with her grandmother while she drank her bottle) and the SNL satire of her.

This book tells the story of a woman who embraces life. All of it. How she came to travel the world, love food, her marriage to an unlikely match, their devotion to each other and her eventual success as a innovative cook that changed how the world ...more

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Jan 03, 2008

Rachael rated it:

(review of isbn 1400043468)

My sister gave me this book for Christmas, and I absolutely loved it! I've always been a fan of Julia Child, and this book was just marvelous. Lively, entertaining--it wasn't so much a food memoir as simply a journey through France. This book made me really understand why Julia Child is such a unique cook--her driving need to have every recipe so perfected so that even a novice cook can achieve the desired result is something that I really resonated with. I loved reading about her endless ex...more

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