Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

My Life in France

4.14 of 5 stars 4.14 · rating details · 37,925 ratings · 4,950 reviews

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 ship docked in Le Havre in the fall of 1948 and Julia watched the well-muscled stevedores unloading the cargo to the first perfectly soigné meal that she and her husband, Paul, savored in Rouen en route t...more

Hardcover, 317 pages

Published April 4th 2006 by Knopf

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Food-Related Non-Fiction

6th out of 469 books — 976 voters

Favourite Travel Books

13th out of 766 books — 1,210 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 16, 2013 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rating: 3.875* of five

The Book Report: Truth in advertising had no greater champion than Julia Child. Her book is called exactly and precisely what it is: The narrative of her life in France. She begins her book on November 3, 1948, with the Child family landing at Le Havre, getting into their gigantic Buick station wagon, and motoring off across northern France towards Paris. They stop at thirty-six-year-old native Californian Mrs. Child's first French restaurant, La Couronne, where her husband...more

13 likes · like · see review

Jan 19, 2013 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Foodies; Francophiles

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Ultimate Reading List - Biography

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

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...more 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.(less)

8 likes · like · see review

Apr 09, 2008 Izzy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Izzy by: Melissa

Shelves: food, travel, bio

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...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)

9 likes · like · see review

Sep 09, 2008 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 his time in th...more

29 likes · like · see review

Sep 03, 2008 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 conversations Julia's nephew had...more

15 likes · like · see review

Jan 05, 2008 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: cooks, learners, late bloomers, europhiles

Shelves: for-the-love-of-food

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 Fran...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jul 19, 2012 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, travelogues, memoirs

If you love books about food or about living in France, this is a must-read. It's the story of how Julia Child learned to cook French food and how she came to write that famous cookbook. (The movie "Julie & Julia" was partially based on this memoir.) The book is filled with charming anecdotes about Paris and Marseille, and includes dozens of photographs that her husband, Paul, took. It's one of the most delightful travel books I've read in years.

What's wonderful about Julia Child is the conf...more

8 likes · like · see review

Oct 16, 2009 Mahlon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Julia fans, foodies, people who like travel writing, lovers of good Biography

Recommended to Mahlon by: Saw Julie and Julia

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...more

13 likes · like · see review

Jun 28, 2011 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 20th-century-postwar-to-late, examined-lives, cultural-meetings, mawwiageiswhatbringsustogethertoday, tres-francais, grande-dames, beyond-the-horizon

I did not grow up on Julia Child. I’m too young to have watched her TV show, and my mom wasn’t the type to own any of her cookbooks (we stuck to mostly Italian recipes handed down from my dad’s mom and ranch-style cooking- or, if we were unlucky, my British nanny’s “traditional” English dishes she insisted we try). I barely knew who she was before I started cooking a few years ago. I admit that I wasn’t really interested in her until the recent movie Julie and Julia, which definitely made me wan...more I did not grow up on Julia Child. I’m too young to have watched her TV show, and my mom wasn’t the type to own any of her cookbooks (we stuck to mostly Italian recipes handed down from my dad’s mom and ranch-style cooking- or, if we were unlucky, my British nanny’s “traditional” English dishes she insisted we try). I barely knew who she was before I started cooking a few years ago. I admit that I wasn’t really interested in her until the recent movie Julie and Julia, which definitely made me want to know more. What can I say? Meryl Streep’s powers are infinite.

I say this just so you’re aware that I don’t have any childhood memories that mean that this book is illuminated in a shiny, impenetrable blanket of nostalgia (not that there is anything wrong with those blankets. I have them for other things! Just not for this). Nonetheless, I really liked this book. I don’t want to overstate this. The book is what it says it is, and you should sign up for it because you would like to read about what Julia Child did in France, what came of her trip in France, the writing of French cookbooks, and how she got started as The French Chef. There is food, and a lot of it. Everything from incredibly detailed memories of menus she ate or cooked for people in France in 1950, to explanations of her experiments with translating French foods to the American market to the trials and tribulations of publishing her cookbook. So far, so expected. And, frankly, so good. She is excellent at describing a sense memory of taste so that even if you’re not quite sure what a dish is, you’re very sure that you want to eat it.

The unexpected part, which I loved, was Julia’s personal transformation. I don’t necessarily mean the inspirational tale of finding happiness in going native in a foreign country that inspired a thousand imitators of the Under the Tuscan Sun variety. I meant the other side of the story, her prickly growth as a person. The way these stories are told (and it should be noted that they are written by her great-nephew, though with her approval), her very distinctive voice seems to express not only the sort of warmth and charm that drew people to her, but also the other woman hiding behind that. I really identified with that other woman that she seemed embarrassed to talk about too much. She was the girl who was smart and restless enough to long for more than the slot that life had lined up for her (housewife in unthinking Republican Pasadena), but, so it seemed, with a self-esteem low enough that she didn’t think herself as smart as the artsy, literate people that she longed to be around (like her husband). I could relate to that- I've been that girl. Forever in-between in your own mind, not good enough for what you want, but knowing you need more than what would be acceptable. It was fascinating to hear her talk about politics of the time period (and this was a surprisingly political book), whether French or American- and then stop herself with one of her patented sweet exclamations (“Phooey!”, “Whew!”)- as if she was suddenly self-conscious of talking about something that she was not an expert about and didn’t want people to think she was getting above herself or something. She was extremely self-aware about her limits, too. There was a wonderful passage from when she was about 40 or so when she was arguing with a man of conservative opinions when she realized that she had “emotions instead of opinions,” which was why she couldn’t express herself very well. She didn’t come out and say it, but it seemed implied that she was still a young girl rebelling emotionally against her Republican father- which had seemed to her sufficient opinion until that point. She immediately resolved to educate herself and read, with Paul, a wide assortment of French and American newspapers. How many people are willing to admit that kind of ignorance and take on such a deep project of self-improvement at that age? In my experience, that seems to be about the time where people start to get set in their ways and are all, “Oh well, too late not to suck at life now!”

Once she had found her new passion, she also became the most amazingly hard worker. She spent months perfecting a mayonnaise recipe that no one had ever written down, and then had to find a way to translate it to an American market that has ingredients that make for a completely different chemistry. She was the first person to write down a recipe for French bread in English, and it took her over 200 pounds of flour to get it right. She wrote to scientists who worked with Hershey’s to get a demonstration of the chemical reactions of chocolate. It was the most amazing thing- like she finally found a little niche that she could make herself have enough self-confidence to succeed in, despite her doubts, and suddenly we find out that she’s probably way smarter than the people she’s been writing about in awe the entire book, whether chefs or otherwise. She eats this amazing meal when she first arrives in France that starts her on this journey towards her ultimate career as a French chef, and about halfway through the book (and twenty years later), she goes out to a restaurant and has another amazing meal- but instead of reacting in awe and worshiping the magic of the French character, she guesses, accurately, everything that is in the dish and goes home and reproduces it almost exactly, and it is just as good as the lady in her restaurant who has been making this dish since the dawn of time. The way she talks about her obsession with these details of why food works is still almost…defensive, like she had to explain it to someone a half-century later, when she's been proven right about having done it over and over again. It’s so true- once the insecure girl who is too tall, too smart, too something- always that girl, successful or not.

Ultimately, you love her because she always brings things back to this place of happiness and, “oh well, the show must go on!” no matter what- but the way she told the stories and negotiated herself to that place was very realistic. This was not an unrelenting “always look on the bright side of life,” montage. There were difficult people in her life, difficult spots in her marriage, difficult moments in her career- the fact that she still remembers verbatim quotes and fights from forty years earlier is telling- and she’s clear about it when she doesn’t like something or someone and why. She doesn’t have an American sense of everything will turn out all right in the end, but rather this very French tant pis acceptance that shit happens and life is shit and oh well, wade through it like a big girl. She doesn’t try to deny anything or erase it or obsess about appearing perfect when she wasn’t- which is something I find irritating about American self-help books and TV fantasies. Her philosophy about serving your food even if it comes out bad and not apologizing for is sort of the epitome of this rejection of the hide your dirty laundry ideals of the mid-century. She’s perfectly frank about her fights with Paul Child, her problems with her co-authors on the book, her difficulties with her Republican father, her failures in the kitchen and on her TV show. It isn’t in the exhibitionist way that you see so often these days either. She’s a good girl, but she won’t let herself be walked all over- she is going to have her say and that’s just fair. I don’t know if I am doing a very good job describing this voice, but believe me when I say that it is as captivating in print as it is on television.

All in all, a surprisingly down to earth book from a classy lady who was much more complicated than I thought she was. Come for the food, stay for the voice of the woman telling you about it- and don’t let her talk herself down! She’s worth the price of admission and more.
(less)

28 likes · like · see review

May 24, 2008 Yvonne rated it 5 of 5 stars

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, we prefer our great...more

7 likes · like · see review

Dec 12, 2007 Tien rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 teacher (pick any one of her shows, but the French C...more

13 likes · like · see review

Aug 19, 2007 Valerie rated it 5 of 5 stars 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

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 16, 2008 Agnes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Interested in living abroad and/or cooking

Recommended to Agnes by: Liz Glasgow

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 it right. Makes m...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2011 Juju (Tales of Whimsy.com) rated it 2 of 5 stars

My Life in France reads like a diary. While it is a time capsule and window into Julia's heart and life, it is exceedingly slow and often tedious. Sadly my interest waned and I ended up giving up on it. But I did walk away from My Life in France with an increased sense of respect for the unapologetic, unconventional, and undeterred Julia Child. She was brave, tenacious, and direct. I think I would have loved her as a person. No matter what life did or did not give her, she never stopped to compl...more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 06, 2012 Ted rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who loved Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Shelves: memoirs, lit-american

The first part of this book covers the years that Julia Child lived in France, from late 1948 to early 1954. She had moved there, at the age of 36, with her husband Paul Child, who had assumed a post with the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) in Paris. He had lived in France previously, spoke French well, and was already enamored with French food. Julia was introduced to everything her husband loved about France in these years, learned French herself, took cooking courses at the famous L'Ecole du C...more The first part of this book covers the years that Julia Child lived in France, from late 1948 to early 1954. She had moved there, at the age of 36, with her husband Paul Child, who had assumed a post with the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) in Paris. He had lived in France previously, spoke French well, and was already enamored with French food. Julia was introduced to everything her husband loved about France in these years, learned French herself, took cooking courses at the famous L'Ecole du Cordon Bleu, and in general fell in love with La Belle France. As she says in the Introduction

Those early years in France were among the best of my life. They marked a crucial period of transformation in which I found my true calling, experienced an awakening of the senses, and had such fun that I hardly stopped moving long enough to catch my breath.

This part of the book introduces us to Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, two women she met while learning French cooking. The three of them began collecting and developing recipes, opened a cooking school in Paris (L'École des trois gourmandes), and eventually wrote and published in the U.S. in 1961 Mastering the Art of French Cooking, one of the most influential cookbooks to appear in English in the last 50 years.

The second part of the book documents the trials and tribulations involved in bringing Mastering to the American public, as well as the publication of the second volume of that work, and other milestones of Julia's career in the following years.

My Life in France will be of interest to anyone who has enjoyed Julia's great cookbook. The story of how she became first acquainted with, and then passionate about, French cooking, and the details of the making and publication of the book, are recounted in engaging prose. (I also found it personally endearing that Julia, despite being raised in a very well-to-do Republican family, turned out to be a very left-leaning adult, who became something of a disappointment to her father for her political views.)(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 20, 2013 Joseph rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It provides a first-hand account of the amazing adventure that was Julia Child. With her husband working for the State Department in France, Julia discovers the wonders of French cuisine and sets out to learn more about it, eventually opening-up a cooking school with a French partner. Starting her cooking education relatively late in life, she explains how her love of French cuisine turned into a passion for cooking. More important, she provides us all with a lesson o...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 10, 2009 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 wine, meeting...more

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 08, 2008 amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

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

3 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2013 Melissa Proffitt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

Julia Child's love of cooking and love of France really come through here; surprisingly, the long lists of menus don't get old, though they do make you hungry. The book's weakness is that it was compiled from letters and journals written decades before, which makes it feel rather episodic, and the episodes aren't always connected naturally. This makes for an occasionally jarring reading experience, and ultimately it's a book you read for the content rather than the format. Fortunately, that cont...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 21, 2009 Maureen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, ultimate-favorites

Pardon the pun but this book is DELICIOUS! To borrow a comment from a friend it is "porn for foodies". It truly is. Julia Child has somehow remembered every savory, delightful meal she ate while in France and every wonderful windy road while in Marseilles. What she has put to paper makes me long to eat and visit! This book is so enjoyable I want to try most every recipe (eels I think not) and visit every destination.

Admittedly, I grew up watching her on grainy black and white television. (oh dea...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 12, 2008 Shippseattle rated it 4 of 5 stars

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

[close]
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 ship docked in Le Havre in the fall of 1948 and Julia watched the well-mus...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 13, 2008 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 was no less...more

1 like · like · see review

May 02, 2008 Rhonda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-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 learned the french lan...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 23, 2008 Becka rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Shira, Julie C.

Shelves: europe, travel

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 o...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 16, 2007 Deborah Joyner rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: foodies

Shelves: nonfiction

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

1 like · like · see review

May 02, 2008 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars

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. And visiting the kitchen o...more

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 30, 2007 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

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 never apologized...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 23, 2011 Victoria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An enjoyable, but not compelling, read, with short-enough chapters that allowed me to get through the book in a couple of weeks of odd moments. I grew up watching Julia Child on tv but had no idea of the person behind the French Chef. Her path from non-cooking, California girl to expert French cook and author made for interesting reading, especially her experiences in France. I did find the book a bit superficial, but maybe that's how it managed to stay enjoyable.

1 like · like · see review

Jun 25, 2009 Helen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: cooking, julia-child

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 viewed French c...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 03, 2008 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 experi...more

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
biographies	5	14	Apr 25, 2013 08:16am
Books about / stories set in Paris?	20	168	Apr 08, 2013 03:38am
Reflections Book ...: September 2010	1	1	Feb 24, 2013 12:13pm
Powell Branch Lib...: "My Life in France" Book Discussion	12	20	Nov 28, 2012 03:48pm
You'll love this ...: My Life in France	11	12	Jan 10, 2012 08:01am

combine
Other Editions (24)

More editions...

Genres

Non Fiction

726 users

Autobiography > Memoir

546 users

Food And Drink > Food

517 users

Biography

406 users

Travel

180 users

Food And Drink > Cooking

172 users

Book Club

165 users

Cultural > France

135 users

Biography Memoir

103 users

Food And Drink > Foodie

71 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Julia Child

Julia Child was a famous American cook, author, and television personality who introduced French cuisine and cooking techniques to the American mainstream through her many cookbooks and television programs. Her most famous works are the 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and, showcasing her sui generis television persona, the series The French Chef, which premiered in 1963.

More about Julia Child...

Books by Julia Child

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Vol. 1)

Baking with Julia: Sift, Knead, Flute, Flour, And Savor...

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Vol. 2)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About My Life in France

4 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from My Life in France

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” — 132 people liked it

“...nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should.” — 89 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: My Life in France
avg rating	preview: My Life in France Goodreads rating: 4.14 (37925 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5084.My_Life_in_France?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320415962l/5084.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5084.My_Life_in_France?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]My Life in France by Julia Child[/url]

My Life in France

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website