As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto

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As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto

by Joan Reardon, Avis DeVoto, Joan Reardon (Editor)

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 1,630 ratings · 335 reviews

With her outsize personality, Julia Child is known around the world by her first name alone. But despite that familiarity,how muchdo we really know of the inner Julia? Now more than 200 letters exchanged between Julia and Avis DeVoto, her friend and unofficial literary agent memorably introduced in the hit movie Julie & Julia, open the window on Julia’s deepest though...more

Hardcover, 432 pages

Published December 1st 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (first published November 12th 2010)

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Jan 16, 2011 Sherri aka SDMomChef rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: worthy-non-fiction

I was a little skeptical as to whether I would enjoy a book of letters. I thoroughly enjoyed My Life in France, and a book of letters between Julia and her friend during the time when she was working on Mastering the Art of French Cooking was too intriguing to skip. It was a delight on so many levels. I enjoyed reading Julia's thoughts unedited about cooking, the changes in cooking in the USA (such as frozen chicken breasts) and her feelings about politics, their travels, etc. I equally fell for...more

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Dec 24, 2010 stormhawk rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle, pre-publication-galley

What a great time it was, when people not only corresponded by letter, but kept their correspondence!

The journey to publishing Mastering the Art of French Cooking is fascinating in and of itself, but what makes this book more interesting is the interplay of two women who correspond "over the point of a knife," talking about their lives, their families, and politics, during a particularly rich time for it ... In the early chapter of the book McCarthy is hunting Commies under every magazine cover,...more What a great time it was, when people not only corresponded by letter, but kept their correspondence!

The journey to publishing Mastering the Art of French Cooking is fascinating in and of itself, but what makes this book more interesting is the interplay of two women who correspond "over the point of a knife," talking about their lives, their families, and politics, during a particularly rich time for it ... In the early chapter of the book McCarthy is hunting Commies under every magazine cover, America is fighting in Korea, and Chiang Kai Shek is struggling against Mao and the Chinese Communists.

The art of letter writing is lost to us, communication is stripped down to 140 characters that you share with your closest "followers," and you don't have to be at home to get a phone call ... even the simple act of making a phone call was given more consideration when long distance service was outrageously expensive and international service unheard of to consider except in the direst emergencies.

Watching the friendship between Julia and Avis form, grow, and deepen is the charm of this book.

If you read Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen or saw the movie, you know the story, you know about these letters, so it's a special treat to be able to read them, sharing in the life and experience of two remarkable women.

The letters are peppered with explanatory footnotes, helpful to the 21st Century reader who is puzzled by the names and situations that were common knowledge to politically and culturally aware denizens of the 1950s. The footnotes enhance rather than detract from the text.

Paul Child was an avid photographer, his pictures of Julia throughout the book show a younger and more vivacious view of her than we know even from PBS' The French Chef.

I would have appreciated more detail in the final chapter, which talks about the what happened after Julia and Paul returned to the United States.

Note to reader: you'll need snacks. These ladies talk food incessantly!(less)

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May 01, 2013 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a beast! It took me forever to get through it, but I'm do glad I did! Joan Reardon presents us with a real labor of love, an edited compilation of correspondence between Julia Child and her pen pal Avis DeVoto. They were both amazing women and I felt like I wanted them to be some sort of maternal figure in my life. The letters really show how much time and effort when into the Julia's cookbook on both their parts. It found myself consulting google me Julia's cookbook to learn more...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Tanna rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is more amazing than anything I've read "about" Julia Child because this is Julia Child talking to a friend in letters over the years.
It gives me the feeling that these two women (Julia & Avis) were blogging before there were blogs. At least, that's the voice that comes through to me reading their letters to each other.
This is gorgeous reading and I know I'm going to be more in love with Julia when I finish reading it that when I started.

As a side note: This book is available on the Kin...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Iñaki Tofiño rated it 4 of 5 stars

A friendship that starts over French cutlery and goes on during many years and many letters on French food, American politics, literature... The type of American women / people I like: open minded, intelligent, cultivated. It has been quite a pleasure to read about Child's struggle with her book and her French coauthors, De Voto's managing with and without her husband, the Childs assignments in France, Germany, and Norway, presidential elections, kitchen appliances, friends, children. A great re...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

I just wasn't expecting this to be so good. Got it on a daily deal and started reading it in a spirit of "on the train, I'll pass the time". Forgive the list format but there's so much going on that made the book a wonderful read:

1) Watching The Book evolve. I kept having to stop and go read my copy, and sometimes cook. I loved learning about the testing, techniques, and experimentation with ingredients.

2) The wonderful writing styles of these two very intelligent and engaged women. They are so...more I just wasn't expecting this to be so good. Got it on a daily deal and started reading it in a spirit of "on the train, I'll pass the time". Forgive the list format but there's so much going on that made the book a wonderful read:

1) Watching The Book evolve. I kept having to stop and go read my copy, and sometimes cook. I loved learning about the testing, techniques, and experimentation with ingredients.

2) The wonderful writing styles of these two very intelligent and engaged women. They are so thoughtful, so informed. And in addition to their intellectual gifts, serious and engaged in their home lives as well. I especially loved the honest, immersive pleasure Julia found in every place, every person, every meal she described.

3) Watching America's accelerating social change from both sides of the Atlantic. Avis in particular wrote these witty, detached little sketches of influential writers, artists and politicians. Some assumptions seem so antiquated, and some are timeless. Antiquated: they kept discussing the "servant problem".

4) The startlingly relevant politics. Avis and Julia despised McCarthy and dissected the political state of the nation year by year, watching friends, acquaintances, and finally their own husbands being targeted by the anti-Communist hysteria oozing through the country. Partly because I read this during the last election, I kept getting the shivers. Julia would write about a trial transcript, or an article, and end up so furious and helpless that she would have to stop. I'm so there.

5) Avis DeVoto, who has not been getting enough air time in books and movies about Julia Child. She is everything I'd like to be. You should just read it and then spend some time every day saying "what would Avis do now?"

The book can drag at times, so I read it slowly. I felt that the letters were generally well-edited and only occasionally repetitive, and the footnotes were vital and enjoyable, if sometimes redundant or minimally illuminating. But every time I picked it up it was like reading news from friends, and I don't feel that it deserves less than 5 stars.

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Jan 17, 2013 Ellyn Oaksmith rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found this book on the recommended shelves as I walked into my library which is always a hit or miss situation. If I had to choose my style of browsing at the library it would be fast and furious and more is better. I thought it would fun to dip into this book, check out the pictures and probably not read the whole thing. Boy was I surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

First of all, (although I don't think it effects my review or enjoyment of the book) I have a somewhat personal connection...more I found this book on the recommended shelves as I walked into my library which is always a hit or miss situation. If I had to choose my style of browsing at the library it would be fast and furious and more is better. I thought it would fun to dip into this book, check out the pictures and probably not read the whole thing. Boy was I surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

First of all, (although I don't think it effects my review or enjoyment of the book) I have a somewhat personal connection or affinity with Julia. I went to Smith College, as did Julia. She was at my graduation and onstage when I went up to get my diploma. At the movie Julie and Julia I met another woman outside the theater who had talked to her at some kind of PR event who said she was absolutely delightful although she sometimes had the reputation of being abrupt. As you can see from this book, she didn't suffer fools lightly but Avis (God love her) makes her look like a positive angel.

Getting to know these two women is like making 2 strong, interesting, driven friends who lived in a fascinating time. This book isn't about food or cooking although it's the binding thread, it's about politics, friendship and a very interesting world -- the life of a diplomat's wife (who happens to be working on what will be considered a masterpiece) and a woman living in the rarified and elite intellectual, scientitfic and arts communities of Cambridge, MA. (Where my husbands also went to school and I have visited often.)

Another specific interest I have in this book is as a writer. I have nothing but empathy and sheer admiration for all the work that Julia and her co-authors put into this book. It wasn't a walk in the park -- it was scaling Everest. Both women had devoted husbands and the glimpse into two very intesting marriages is a treat as well.

I cried at the end of this book because I had to say goodbye to one of the characters whom, surpsringly, I'd come to love. I know it sounds odd but really, how often can you say that of a book?(less)

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Jun 15, 2012 Julieann Wielga rated it 5 of 5 stars

My sister is a memoir reader. Always memoirs of women. Who woman are and what they think and how to be one is always on our minds. Women's letters to other woman speak to me. I connected with Flannery O Connor as she worked through her Catholism, her writing and her lupus. I loved Catherine White's letters to Elizabeth Lawrence, one a southern gardener and one a northern writer. For the past many years I have been interested in how the making of food and community and woman's lives intertwine. S...more My sister is a memoir reader. Always memoirs of women. Who woman are and what they think and how to be one is always on our minds. Women's letters to other woman speak to me. I connected with Flannery O Connor as she worked through her Catholism, her writing and her lupus. I loved Catherine White's letters to Elizabeth Lawrence, one a southern gardener and one a northern writer. For the past many years I have been interested in how the making of food and community and woman's lives intertwine. Still I was somewhat surprised how much I loved these letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto. I do not like French cooking, I have seen Julie and Julia twice and read Julia Child's MY LIFE IN FRANCE. I love Julia's energy,pursuit of knowing and her immense good humor. But I loved this book because of Avis.

I love the time capsule that Avis gives us. The letters begin in 1952. Through Avis, one can experience all the new kitchen appliances: mixers, disposals, dishwashers. One gets the account of the news through television. Avis lives with her family in Cambridge and through her husband's connections, one gets the sense of her very demanding social life of cocktail parties and hosting and attending elaborate dinner parties. Avis is the mother of two extraordinary sons, one of which is disturbed and gets a laundry list of 1950's therapies. Avis is constantly editing her husband's and other books, writing reviews and comes into the role of testing Julia's recipe's and editing Julia's manuscripts.She is also a vibrant political critic who thinks Eisenhower is a dufus and Nixon is a crook. Her hopes are on Adlai Stevenson, and is uncertain of the whole Kennedy clan. I gathered solace for our own seemingly disastrous political times in the absolute terror of the MeCarthism and the legislative and executive's branch inability to curb it.

Avis speaks personally as she comments on increased physical limitations of getting older, her feeling low and her increased frustration with the way life was going. However, for me, the book turns on her on the last section after her husband dies, Julia's book has been rejected by Houghton Mifflin, and Avis has renewed her connections to Knopf by working there. Against all these difficulties, she is an absolutely clear sighted and forceful in her vision that Julia's work must and will be published. Julia and Paul are completely generous to Avis in her grief and she is the promoter and visionary in getting the book published. It is this that so moves me. It is these two woman, who share a love of French food, each with such different gifts, each so talented and strong who move against much of the food trends of the 50's and do this wonderful work together. (less)

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Apr 13, 2011 Rachel Rogers rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is just what a compilations of letters should be. Interesting people, full of the passions they hold and full of information about the world in which they are living. Avis and Julia are full of their lives, interest in each others' lives and the world. It all started when Julia, then in Paris, wrote a letter to Bernard DeVoto in response to his lament about US knifery and send him a French paring knife. Avis (her husband's secretary) answered and thus began a decade long correspondence as J...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Tam rated it 4 of 5 stars

My husband brought this home from the library for me and I started it and really settled in - not to speed read it - but to really spend some time w/ these characters. Avis is the star - the real star of everything - Julia is a big lady w/ a big ego and her big ego comes out in the end when all is said and done and the book finally gets published (ALL thanks to Avis who I respect and admire and if the question ever comes up "who do you want to be when you grow up" my answer from here on in will...more

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Nov 28, 2010 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Savor this book!

It all started with a fan letter written in March of 1953. “Housewife” and food junkie Julia Child wrote a letter to Mr. Bernard DeVoto agreeing with his “diatribe” against stainless steel knives in an article he’d written for Harper’s magazine. Julia’s letter was answered by Bernard’s wife, Avis. Many of us learned about the friendship between Julia and Avis DeVoto in the 2009 hit film, Julie and Julia. Now we are blessed with the treat that is Joan Reardon’s As Always, Julia.

J...more Savor this book!

It all started with a fan letter written in March of 1953. “Housewife” and food junkie Julia Child wrote a letter to Mr. Bernard DeVoto agreeing with his “diatribe” against stainless steel knives in an article he’d written for Harper’s magazine. Julia’s letter was answered by Bernard’s wife, Avis. Many of us learned about the friendship between Julia and Avis DeVoto in the 2009 hit film, Julie and Julia. Now we are blessed with the treat that is Joan Reardon’s As Always, Julia.

Joan Reardon has done a superb job in selecting, compiling, editing and referencing what was originally more than four hundred letters written by Julia and Avis. Ms. Reardon is a culinary historian, cookbook author, and biographer. She also edits a quarterly newsletter for Les Dames d’Escoffier Chicago and serves on the advisory board of Gastronomica. In other words, Ms. Reardon knows her way around a kitchen and it shows!

Within the 430+ pages of this book, the letters not only chronicle the growing friendship between Julia and Avis, they also serve as steadfast barometer of the times. The letters span the years between 1953 and 1961. The world was changing rapidly and the commentary and banter that flows back and forth reflects the post-World War II “jet age” experiences. One of the things I found amazing was the pro-and-con 1953 debate spurred by new “labor saving devices,” in particular, the automatic dish washer, something a 2010 household thinks nothing about. However, Avis is appalled that the glasses and dishes have to be rinsed, that pots and pans shouldn’t be put in, and all things considered, they don’t clean that well.

Another discussion that takes place between Avis and Julia is one that would not take place today: the scarcity of fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables during the “off season.” Now-a-days most everything is available year round. They shared their struggles with cooking food within the “seasons” and offered each other alternatives to fresh foods, frozen (not so good) and canned (not so good always either).

This is a wonderful book of letters that shares more than the growth of a long distance friendship. As Always, Julia follows the publication of Julia’s ground breaking cookbook, Mastering The Art of French Cooking. Through the eyes of these two savvy, well read, well traveled, and very opinionated women we see the politics of the time, the McCarthy era, as well as their thoughts on American “fast food,” how to make a beurre blanc, and the perils of the frozen turkey.

As Always, Julia is a valentine to every cook, wanna-be cook, chef, and food lover out there. It’s also a valentine to a friendship that survived decades.

I can’t recommend this book enough. As Always, Julia is a wonderful read and it will make a fabulous gift to anyone who loves food and believes in enduring, unselfish friendships. Buy several, one to read and the rest to share with friends!

Source: This book was provided to me by the publisher at my request and in no way affected by review.
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Nov 21, 2010 Pamela rated it 5 of 5 stars

In 1951, American West historian Bernard DeVoto wrote an article for Harper’s magazine in which he deplored the lack of adequate knives for the American housewife. In Paris, Julia Child read the article and sent him a French kitchen knife. Avis DeVoto, Bernard’s wife, who answered her husband’s mail, wrote back to Julia. From this start, the two women corresponded until Avis’ death in 1989.

“As Always” covers only ten years of their 38-year friendship. During that 10-year period, Julia attended L...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Joyce rated it 4 of 5 stars

Julia and Avis (wife of Bernard) build a lifelong friendship based on a shared disdain of stainless steel knives; about the only ones you could get in the US in the 50s.

They also shared their liberal politics, a treasured commonality during the McCarthy hearings, which affected Paul Child (in the foreign service) as well as Avis's neighbors -- the Schlesingers and just about every other Cambridge intellectual you can think of.

Julia and Les Trois Gourmandes were in France working on their first...more

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Apr 03, 2011 T rated it 3 of 5 stars

There was a lot in this I really liked--it was interesting to see the development of the cookbook and growing friendship between DeVoto and Child was warm and engaging. There were several interesting comments and insights into life in America in the 1950s. You already expect Julia Child's life to be interesting, but I was really surprised at how interesting (and likeable) I found Avis DeVoto to be. I particularly liked how well connected she was; her letters are peppered with famous names ("Anse...more

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Feb 12, 2011 JoAnn/QuAppelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

This took me six weeks to read...not because it was boring, but because it was so dense with information and the print was pretty small for my old eyes. There was no large print edition available.

I loved reading these letters, a peek into life and cooking/food in the 50s. I probably would have given it 5 stars except that there was too much political preaching that got quite tiresome after reading the same thing ten times. Since these letters were edited, some of this stuff should have been lef...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Ce Ce rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating on so many levels. The book was composed of letters between Julia Child and Avis Devoto. They became lifelong friends as a result of a fan letter & gift that Julia sent Avis husband, Bernard Devoto (author). Avis, with her knowledge and publishing world connections was critical to the completion & publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Reading the book reminded me of all that we may be losing in an email/text message/twitter world. These are long paper letters to...more

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Jun 05, 2011 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fantastique! The letters sparkle with warmth and really show the true nature of lifelong friendship: supportive, nonjudgmental and selfless. Epistolary works can be challenging, too many arcane references. The notes were very helpful, though there were a couple of places a note would have been helpful, but wasn't included. The political discussions shouldn't cause anyone any offense, these are personal letters between women of like thoughts. I enjoyed seeing so much of the same criticisms of Ame...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Robyn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-or-memoir, culinary, kindle, nonfiction

I really expected this book to be basically fluff, just more understanding of Julia Child and the process of writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As a matter of fact, I let it sit on my Kindle unread for quite a long time after I got it (as a $0.99 Daily Deal) before bothering with it. But once I got started, I discovered how great it really is. It's a window into more than just the lives of the two letter writers, a wonderful mix of culinary, personal, and political observations. I kept...more I really expected this book to be basically fluff, just more understanding of Julia Child and the process of writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As a matter of fact, I let it sit on my Kindle unread for quite a long time after I got it (as a $0.99 Daily Deal) before bothering with it. But once I got started, I discovered how great it really is. It's a window into more than just the lives of the two letter writers, a wonderful mix of culinary, personal, and political observations. I kept telling myself "just one more letter and I'll go to bed", then ten letters later would discover it was 1am and I was still saying "just one more".

This is a very large collection of letters, and the editor makes it clear in her introduction that she pared down from many more. She's done a very good job of selecting which to include, and very rarely is context missing. In just a couple of places the editor has had to note that a paragraph is referencing something from a letter that has not been included, either because the letter has been lost in the years since, or because it wouldn't fit in the book. The rest of the time it's like reading a conversation, and the stories of their lives unfold in the pages. I'm glad to see some of the letters in their original form at the end of the book (and it's nice, on Kindle, to be able to just click to the letter and then back to the text), though I am curious why the originals that were included were the ones selected. They didn't contain the most important news, and most were typed so didn't show handwriting. I'm glad that the editor included as many photographs as she did, as well as being glad they were sprinkled throughout, instead of all in a block together at center or end. This is especially nice since the photos were placed properly chronologically; a photo would be included and then actually referenced a few pages later in a letter.

I never realized before just how important Avis DeVoto was to Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I knew of their friendship, and I knew she was involved in getting the book to publishers, but had not been aware how much back and forth there was with her about recipes. Or how much involvement she had in determining the American availability of ingredients and equipment. That book truly would not have existed in the form we know today if it weren't for the vast amounts of time and attention that Avis gave to it and to Julia.

Fascinating viewpoint on the McCarthy situation and various elections and scandals. So much of the partisanship of the politics of the time is immediately familiar, and I so understand the ladies feeling sick over it. It did become a little amazing the people that the Childs and DeVotos knew. Quite a social circle for both families.

Because I knew before starting this what year Bernard DeVoto passed away, I was a bit in dread of the letters from that time, while simultaneously almost looking forward to them, in the sense that I knew that at least Avis would have Julia to confide in. At times like that it can almost be a comfort to have a loved one far away, because you can write them differently than you interact with friends close at hand.

This book kind of makes me want to re-read Julia's book My Life in France, to see it with additional background, as it were. I think this would be interesting reading obviously for people interested in food and for July Child fans, but also for amateur modern historians/sociologists and those intrigued by American politics of the 1950s.

My only complaint is related to the Kindle formatting. Nearly every place were a page number is mentioned (as "Page 5") has been converted to a clickable Kindle navigation arrow. Most of them should not have been. So in a letter Julia will be discussing the faults of a cookbook she and Avis have read, and she'll say "what does Escoffier mean Page 49 on Mayonnaise..." so that Avis can go to the same page in her own copy. But on my Kindle that reads as "what does Escoffier mean [>] on Mayonnaise..." and if you click the arrow it takes you to page 49 of this book. This seems to be a problem only with page number mentions written a certain way, thus if Avis wrote "p.79" it reads as "p. 79" in the text, but if "page 79" it becomes a link. This is a simple error on the part of the publishers, just a bit frustrating. Partly because I clicked the links a few times before understanding the problem, but mostly because it breaks up the reading experience. Since the page number given is not written out, the sentence flow is halted (not to mention, I have some of the books they refer to and while certainly they're different editions the page numbers would be close and I could look it up to see what they're referring to).

Besides the formatting problem, I enjoyed this immensely and could not put it down.(less)

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Jun 16, 2011 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Since I was little, I've always loved epistolary novels and letters in general--there is something so intriguing and exciting about reading someone else's correspondences and piecing together the parts of their lives that they release in words. And this collection is outstanding--Julia Child and Avis DeVoto met through letters (Julia wrote a letter to Avis's husband regarding an article he wrote about knives and Avis responded, resulting in a lifelong friendship and correspondence through years...more

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May 01, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

“As Always, Julia” is a collection of letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto, who became lifelong friends quite by chance. Julia, who was living in Paris at the time, sent Avis’ husband a letter and a French knife after reading the writer’s magazine column about American knives. Avis answered the letter for her husband (as she did all his mail), Julia responded, and a pen-pal relationship began, which grew into a sustaining friendship between the two. The letters span the years 1952 to 1961...more

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Mar 20, 2011 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh my goodness, this was an unexpectedly good book. Obviously I thought it might be worth a flip-through, or I wouldn't have reserved it at the library and read it, but I honestly didn't expect "As Always, Julia" to be so darn good. And the best part isn't even Julia, but Avis! (No, not the car rental company.)

Subtitled "Food, Friendship & the Making of a Masterpiece" is an epistolary memoir. I love epistolary novels, and enjoyed the letters of John & Abigail Adams, but never figured I'd...more Oh my goodness, this was an unexpectedly good book. Obviously I thought it might be worth a flip-through, or I wouldn't have reserved it at the library and read it, but I honestly didn't expect "As Always, Julia" to be so darn good. And the best part isn't even Julia, but Avis! (No, not the car rental company.)

Subtitled "Food, Friendship & the Making of a Masterpiece" is an epistolary memoir. I love epistolary novels, and enjoyed the letters of John & Abigail Adams, but never figured I'd be all that stoked for a book of letters between Julia Child and a woman of whom I'd never heard. I'm not even a Julia Child fan and I don't cook. But I did find Julia's to be the more interesting of the sections in Julie Powell's "Julie & Julia", which is what prompted me to read Julia Child's autobiography, "My Life In France" last year. It wasn't the cooking, but the relationship between Julia and Paul Child, and between Julia and her co-writers, and the travelogue aspect of that book that I loved. But "As Always, Julia" grabbed me and never let me go.

Don't like cooking? It doesn't matter! (Though if you don't like food, some aspects may bore you.) This is pen-palling at its best. It's the evolving tale of Julia in Europe and Avis, wife of Bernard Devoto, an author who, though I consider myself well-read and well-informed), was unknown to me. The book is a damned hoot. It's just the rambling letters, in the days before international or even long-distance calls were common. They write of their lives, their pains, their husbands, their work (as both women were brilliant, if unconventional "business women"), Avis' children, Julia's travels.

You could read it just for the soap operatic quality of their lives, or for the decade-plus slow and sometimes-backwards progress Julia and her writing partners (the daft Louisette and the formidable Simca) made towards the eventual publishing of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. (If you know even a teeny bit about the history of the book, by the time Judith Jones makes her first, off-handed reference appearance, you're ready to whoop & holler with the realization that "NOW we're getting somewhere!"

What I found most staggering about the book was that as the letters weave their way through the lives of Julia and Avis, they also weave world history into the narratives. Nobody appalled at the political upheaval and division in modern life will look at the 1950s stories of McCarthyism and Eisenhower and Kennedy and Adlai Stevenson without taking a cautiously optimistic breath and realizing it's not really THAT much worse now.

And that's it -- food, politics, personal revelations (of a not very deep, but very realistic type) make up this juicy double-memoir. Editor Joan Reardon includes so many footnotes that sometimes it feels like an academic journal. It doesn't detract from the writing, but I imagine someone completely clueless about the existence of the Cuban Missile Crisis or Army-McCarthy hearings might find it useful not to have to trudge to Wikipedia to make sense of what they should have learned in school. Imagine if, 50 years from now, someone came across our emails or Facebook walls and could marvel at the seamless blending of our troubles figuring out how to handle a plumbing problem and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and our challenges at work and our worries about whether our adult children will ever settle down in one career and get married.

No book is as good as one that surprises you with how much you come to care about the characters with in, and though real-life people, Avis and Julia (and their friends and families) are intriguing characters about which I'd like to know more, not because they were special or famous, but because they are so darn relevant and real.(less)

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Feb 20, 2011 Carrie Kindred rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, nonfiction, favorites, to-buy

As Always, Julia is a gem. It was wonderful to experience the letters of two true friends. The fact that one of those friends was Julia Child, revolutionary chef of the 20th century, now seems like a wonderful bonus, as opposed to a main inticement for reading. Julia and Avis are witty, engaging, and thoroughly enchanting. Their letters pull us back in time where we are fully immersed in their lives. Joan Reardon includes many photos and images of original letters, enhancing the book beautifully...more

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May 07, 2011 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: food-eating, non-fiction

I love reading other people's letters, getting that insight into their lives and times. I especially enjoy reading long letters in today's e-mail and Twitter environment where no one writes real letters anymore.

I remember watching Julia Child on PBS as a child. She was just the lady with the funny, muppet-like voice who cooked. Reading these letters you see that the was a dedicated, tenacious and incredibly detail-oriented cook who devoted almost a decade to refining recipes, experimenting with...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Kevin Graves rated it 5 of 5 stars

Not enough stars for this book. Reading these letters from Avis DeVoto to Julia Child that have been quoted heavily in all the Julia Child books I had read, was a joy. The Kindle for iPad version has the original handwritten or typed letters if you prefer. Reading those letters shows the juxtaposition of what was happening with cuisine in the USA and France of the 50s and early 60s. If it weren't for Avis DeVoto wife and office manager of her husband, Author and Columnist, Bernard DeVoto, Julia...more

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Oct 25, 2010 Kristin (Kritters Ramblings) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: kritter-reviewed-2010, ebook

Well, this book was a hard and long read. I am a fan of Julia Childs and loved reading about her life in the parts of Julie and Julia, but this book was rough.

A book that is 90% letters between the pen pals - Julia Childs and Avis DeVoto. This was a great way to get to know two women who changed the face of not only cookbooks, but food on tv. The structure of the book was appealing - but I had a few issues.

I did not enjoy the parts of the letters between Avis and Julia that pertained to politics...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Joanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, non-fiction, this-book-has-a-lesbian-in-it

This was a wonderful collection of letters between friends that span many years of growth and change. As you read, you get the sense that Julia Child is blossoming into the chef that she will one day become, while Avis is navigating a new relationship to the world after her husband's death. But more than that, and more than the mouth watering recipes they exchange, Avis and Julia provide a fascinating chronicle of America (and the world) during McCarthyism. The exchange of their letters starts i...more

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Mar 28, 2011 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars

"As Always, Julia..." is a great read! The book read like a novel at times. I found myself forgetting these were real women, real letters, a real time in history. It’s a great book with many subtexts.

In this book, we are treated to a bird's eye view on Julia Child's and Avis DeVoto's relationship. They begin as virtual unknowns to one another to become best of friends. At the start of their relationship Julia is living in Paris, while Avis is living in Cambridge, MA. As letters are exchanged, t...more "As Always, Julia..." is a great read! The book read like a novel at times. I found myself forgetting these were real women, real letters, a real time in history. It’s a great book with many subtexts.

In this book, we are treated to a bird's eye view on Julia Child's and Avis DeVoto's relationship. They begin as virtual unknowns to one another to become best of friends. At the start of their relationship Julia is living in Paris, while Avis is living in Cambridge, MA. As letters are exchanged, their relationship moves to a new level, from professional to one of friendship, they become one another's confidantes, sister, sounding board. The letters follow Julia & her husband Paul, as they live in Paris, move to Marseilles, Germany, DC, Oslo and end with them returning to MA.

Readers might find it hard to believe how quickly the women started sharing personal thoughts with one another. From my own experience, I have seen how easy it is to open up and share intimate details of your life on paper (or as in now-a-days via the internet) to someone you in all likelihood, will never meet face to face. Since I was old enough to write letters, I have always had a penpal in my life. Often times more than one. Some of my penpals were family members; some were people I would never meet. The relationship between Julia and Avis reminds me of some of those "will never meet" people in my life. It is as though you are writing in a journal, the anonymity is a great release to be open, in a way you wouldn’t be with people you see face to face.

I was pleased to see that once Julia and Avis did meet face to face several years into their letter writing, their friendship continued to blossom and grow. In addition to a genuine like for one another, they had a mutual admiration & respect for each other.

I loved reading about Julia's concerns about her now famous French cookbook. Her trials and errors in the kitchen, asking Avis what ingredients were available here for American women to purchase. Her doubts about the publishing company, her co-writers. Reading Avis’s responses. Watching as Avis worked on carving a niche in her daily life for herself, one apart from being her husband's assistant and mom to two active boys, and then later as a working woman, trying to balance her life, her exhaustion level from doing it all.

Not only do the women discuss cooking, ingredients, how to's, the weather, their family, they also discuss the current state of events in American politics. While this was interesting, I found I didn't know many of the names or events that they were discussing. The editor of the book did a great job footnoting each name/event, yet much of it still meant nothing to me, I found myself glazing over during those sections. It was fascinating to see how quickly someone “famous”, in this case, politicians, can become forgotten in the eyes of the American people. Reading the exchanges between the women about the political parties you could easily change out the key players to today’s players and the sentiments the women were expressing would be the same ones we hear today. To me this indicates the two political parties really haven't gotten very far in learning how to work together since the 1950's.

We read along as Julia moves around Europe for Paul’s job, learning new languages, customs, foods, peoples. We see how difficult travel was. How much we take for granted now. We learn about Avis’s oldest son coming back from the Korean War with what I assume was PTSD. We read as both women complain about their families & the dynamics there. We learn what things cost. And how new appliances are coming out to make life easier for the housewife; dishwashers, garbage disposals, blenders… and see how with more women working the tide was turning from the home cooked meals to quick, easy pre-cooked meals.

The everyday worries these women shared with one another, are ones we are all familiar with in our daily lives today.

While granted there have been many, many changes since their time, bottom line worries remain the same, providing for your family, trying to do it all, learning to cook meals your kids will eat, ;-), dealing with family issues, politics, and finding time for yourself.

This is not just a book filled with letters between two women, it is a thought provoking history book.

Bon Appétit!
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May 03, 2011 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really worthwhile but not a fast read. Through their correspondence, Julia Child and Avis DeVoto became not only the best of friends but also wildly successful publishing collaborators (in bringing to fruition arguably the most famous and influential cookbook of the mid-twenteth century). Reading these letters, which can feel uncomfortably intrusive at times, is a fascinating glimpse into their lives. Joan Reardon does an admirable job of filling in the background and including discreet footnote...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Cherylann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: foodoir, non-fiction

For some reason this book took me a long time to read, which left me a bit frustrated. However, I did really enjoy it. After finishing the book, I saw it not only as a depiction of the Julia Child's time in Europe post-War, but also as a book about friendship and love. There were places when I got a bit bogged down in the reading, and I was bothered by a reference to Moveable Feast, which the author footnoted as Hemingway's book. However, Hemingway's estate published A Moveable Feast in 1964. He...more

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May 10, 2011 The Library Lady rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-biography

Bl**p Julie Powell and her crappy, self indulgent "Julie and Julia".

Read this and My Life In France and you will get a picture of Julia Child sans four letter words or the less than interesting life of a Julia wanna be. Instead you will get the marvelous Avis de Voto.

Avis is pictured in the movie "Julie and Julia" (I skipped any Powell sequences) for about 5 seconds, supposedly meeting her pen pal Julia Child for the first time in a train station. Didn't happen that way, and DeVoto was far more...more

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“To think that we might easily have gone through life not knowing each other, missing all this free flow of love and ideas and warmth and sharing... We share really almost everything. (Avis DeVoto to Julia Child)” — 9 people liked it

“I'm getting stale. I always do this time of year. I keep my nose to the grindestone and put in long hours and rustle up good meals and do all the chores and run errands and get along with people -- and have a fine time doing it and enjoy life. Then I realize, bang, that I'm tired and I don't want to wait on my family for a while and I wish I could go away somewhere and have people wait on me hand and foot, and dress up and go to restaurants and the theater and act like a woman of the world. I feel as if I'd been swallowed up whole by all these powerful DeVotos and I'd like to be me for a while with somebody who never heard the name.” — 6 people liked it

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As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto

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