From the legendary editor who helped shape modern cookbook publishing—one of the food world’s most admired figures—an evocative a...
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Apr 24, 2008
Suzanne
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This is a fascinating autobiography of one of the great editors in cooking. A friend let me borrow it because the author spends time up in the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont and thought I would be interested.
Judith was the editor for Julia Child and others. She and her husband Evan brought french cooking into the mainstream. (as well as Thai, Indian, Chinese and American) Her commentary later in the book about how American's taste in food is being manipulated by marketing is on target. More...
Judith was the editor for Julia Child and others. She and her husband Evan brought french cooking into the mainstream. (as well as Thai, Indian, Chinese and American) Her commentary later in the book about how American's taste in food is being manipulated by marketing is on target. More...
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Apr 19, 2008
Judith Jones's memoir ia about her love affair with food. As senior editor for Knopf for many years, she has worked with the "greats" in the food writing business.
Beginning her career after World War II, working for Doubleday in Paris, where she socialized with the likes of Capote and Baldwin, and got permission from Otto Frank to publish his late daughter's diary, and now still editing for Knopf, Jones's book is a history of her world and the truly creative geniuses she More...
Beginning her career after World War II, working for Doubleday in Paris, where she socialized with the likes of Capote and Baldwin, and got permission from Otto Frank to publish his late daughter's diary, and now still editing for Knopf, Jones's book is a history of her world and the truly creative geniuses she More...
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Dec 29, 2007
Wendy
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A little bland for someone who worked with the greatest cookbook authors of the 20th century, including Julia Child, Marcella Hazen, Madhur Jaffrey and Jim Beard. Jones only skims the surface of her relationship with the culinary giants, and one wishes she had taken the time to add a little more spice and substance to her memoir. For those of us with a cookbook addiction, however, this is still an essential read. It was a nice palate cleanser to the much tastier "My Life in France"
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Feb 05, 2009
Judith Jones, now a senior editor and vice president at Knopf, has long been a major force in the cookbook world. Her foodie fans might not know that she also played a role in bringing Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl to America or that she has edited literary stars like John Updike and Anne Tyler. Two reviewers faulted Jones's style, but none denied her interesting and influential career. Indeed, if it weren't for Jones, American consumers might have a hard time purchasing such basics as f
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Apr 03, 2009
Kristine
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Highly enjyable although for a memoir she doesn't get too personal. I guess some of the things I was curious about (like hooking up with her married husband) are really none of my beeswax though. I guess I was looking for more emotion and she seemed a bit detatched. Her husbands death was adressed in one sentence. She also tends to skip around time a bit and the book ends a bit abruptly.
But despite it's shortcomings I really liked reading about the great chefs she met and about her More...
But despite it's shortcomings I really liked reading about the great chefs she met and about her More...
Oct 24, 2010
Rachelle
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This was a very sweet memoir, and a fascinating one from the perspective of an editor mired in the food world (somewhat accidentally), especially as quality cookbooks and authoritative voices were on the rise. While her discovery of some of the most recognizable names in the culinary world (Julia Child being the most famous, of course) is impressive, what I was especially drawn to was her in-depth descriptions of the recipe writing/compiling/testing process that she participated in with each of
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Jul 14, 2010
Catherine
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I love books about people who love food - and I particularly loved this book since Jones' job for many years was to find people who loved food and encourage them to write books about it. Jones' memoir was weakest, for me, when she was talking about her own early years and connection to food - perhaps because the food she remembers is so often bland and a form of privation in its own way. But once Jones' discovers France, and begins to edit numerous cook books (including -Mastering the Art of F
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Nov 27, 2009
Chris
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I bought this over the summer, but finally finished it after meeting Jones on Saturday afternoon for a cooking demonstration. Some people stand in line to get tickets to see their favorite band, I was jumping out of my skin to meet an 85-year-old editor! :-) I also felt a certain kinship to her, since her family home was around the corner from where I grew up.
I wouldn't call this a memoir in the traditional sense, she kind of skips around in her life, and what a life she's led. I wo More...
I wouldn't call this a memoir in the traditional sense, she kind of skips around in her life, and what a life she's led. I wo More...
Jun 10, 2008
Elizabeth
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disappointing!! Confused narrative structure and cloying descriptions...and this from a legendary editor? She only gets as delightfully crisp (almost brutal) as she was onstage at Cooper Hewitt when she is describing "her" authors (Marcella H. was a bitch!), and determinedly walking her timid readers through her favorite recipes...including one for brains in mustard sauce. The "gooseberry flummery" sounded more appealing, frankly.
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Feb 20, 2009
Cathy
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I love this book and can't believe I waited so long to read it. Jones edited John Updike, Sylvia Plath, Anne Tyler, and rescued The Diary of Anne Frank from a slush pile at an American publishing house. She translated Camus and Sartre for American audiences. She changed the way Americans eat by publishing Julia Child, James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, and Madhur Jaffrey.
This book is mostly about what it was like to publish these amazing cookbooks and how American tastes have evolved.
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This book is mostly about what it was like to publish these amazing cookbooks and how American tastes have evolved.
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Jan 15, 2011
William
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While this was not the book I thought it would be (I was expecting more about Julia Child), it did surprise me, happily, with what it turned out to be: an editor's food autobiography. Julia Child freaks and any type of editor and food rag and mag freaks will love this book. I am none of those. Ms. Jones had a genuinely interesting life, and her book makes it just enough interesting to me to whet my appetite for more (of her books). If you're not into food, cooking, gourmet or otherwise, at all,
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Feb 28, 2008
Pdxstacey
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I like food, I like Julia Child, I like feminist travel writing. So, I loved this book.
I'm not sure it's nice to serve tripe to a kid used to mac and cheese from a box, but I admire her zest for life. It seemed particularly zesty as I was in bed sipping theraflu while I read it.
I'm not sure it's nice to serve tripe to a kid used to mac and cheese from a box, but I admire her zest for life. It seemed particularly zesty as I was in bed sipping theraflu while I read it.
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Mar 31, 2010
Brooke
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Judith Jones is famously known as the editor who put Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking on the map. Who knew she was also a pivotal player in publishing the first edition of "The Diary of Anne Frank?" In 'The Tenth Muse,' Jones describes the evolution of the role played by food in both her life and in American culture in general, as observed as an editor at Knopf. She grew up in a household where garlic was forbidden (I can't even imagine!) but she ultimately found he
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Feb 07, 2010
Linda
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We had a great discussion at a library book group, but I didn't particularly enjoy this book. Jones is an editor who went to Paris in 1948, fell in love with French food and an American man, and was the editor for Julia Child and other big names in cooking, as well as for Anne Tyler and John Updike. She came across as elitist and completely unappealing to me, and I couldn't get past that. But it was a fun discussion (most in the book group liked it) and a good choice for groups that have read o
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Mar 07, 2011
Michael
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What Judith Jones does in The Tenth Muse is make the case that cookbooks (and food in general) need to be more than just a collection of recipes. She edited the seminal cookbooks for every major culinary tradition, and all of these books have not been by chefs. They are by home cooks who are trying to capture an entire culture and way of life through food. This is what she charges each of her authors with. And we are the better for it. These are the cookbooks you are always going back to be
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Jan 19, 2010
Katherine
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Hard to get past my mild dislike of Jones that developed and grew as I read this book. I'm not sure why. Despite her remarkable credentials, accomplished friends and colleagues, and interesting experience, I found her a little tiresome. I wanted to read about her experiences, but apparently I preferred that someone else narrate them. For one thing, the book feels awfully superficial--I wanted more (and yet less of her). And it's hard to reconcile the fact that I read her memoir because of her co
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Mar 14, 2009
Jess
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I picked this up on a whim at work - I don't read many memoirs or biographies, but the food theme made this one sound interesting. I appreciated the tone - fairly reserved about personal matters, but much more gushy when it came to food and describing her 'life in food.' I was particularly interested by the bits about cookbook history and editing. The pictures are well-chosen and often fun, and the whole book really gives a sense of her love of food, cooking, cookbooks, trying new things, and
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Feb 14, 2009
Jean
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A quick and enjoyable read. You don't really feel like you know Judith Jones very intimately by the end, but you come pretty early to conclude she is well-connected and very good at her job, and that she has impeccable taste and instincts. It's wonderful to read stories from a person who befriended so many great chefs and shepherded them into print, allowing generations of home cooks to benefit from their expertise. Being a non-chef who simply loves food and experimenting in the kitchen, the aut
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Mar 12, 2010
Ellen
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Great fun! An American girl who graduated from college in the protective (for females) 50's, then finagled not only a trip to Paris, but a temporary job there, then met the two loves of her life; the first a married (!) man, the second French food. She became increasingly sophisticated through living in Paris. Learning to cook great meals seems to have happened almost accidentally. Then, a job as an editor leads to food criticism, then helping edit Julia Child's books. An amazing story of a full
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Apr 01, 2009
Marsha
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A short book - about 200 pages - this is a memoir of the editor of many cookbook authors, including Julia Child. My favorite parts were when Mrs. Jones shared her philosophies about food and how it connects us to nature and to our history. She is also very encouraging about being inventive in using the items you have on hand and not worrying about following someone else's recipe. It is a bit like she has sat down with you in the kitchen to chat about her experiences, which are fascinating, bu
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Mar 10, 2009
Katie
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Very much enjoyed this book, as I do any book written by someone who changed the way Americans (the world?) view food.
I wish Jones had spent a bit more time on the actual editing process rather than on food's role in society, but I suppose that's because I come from publishing. Reading about how these cookbook authors - the fabulous Julia Child being the catalyst - introduced America to a whole bevy of new foods and flavors and tastes was fascinating - I realized, but only half-hear More...
I wish Jones had spent a bit more time on the actual editing process rather than on food's role in society, but I suppose that's because I come from publishing. Reading about how these cookbook authors - the fabulous Julia Child being the catalyst - introduced America to a whole bevy of new foods and flavors and tastes was fascinating - I realized, but only half-hear More...
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Dec 07, 2009
Maggie
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Lately I've been surrounding myself with the words of women whose lives have been shaped by food. They are great company, these women, and reveal something new to me with each read. My latest culinary/literary journey was Judith Jones' 'The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food.' Jones was the legendary Knopf editor responsible for publishing dozens of food luminaries over the course of her career. As the Times put it, "Ms. Jones may not be the mother of the revolution in American taste ... but she r
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Feb 05, 2009
Samantha
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The woman who wrote this was an editor in cookbook publishing for years, for people like Julia Child, James Bear, Enda Lewis. She got her start publishing Julia's first cookbook. It was an enjoyable short read with lots of thoughtful tidbits about how to enjoy food and friends. The best part of it was gleaning ideas on quite a few older cookbooks from people like Edna Lewis that I had never heard about before. I will keep it as inspiration when I am looking for a cookbook for my collection.
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Nov 03, 2008
Kristin
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This was a very quick and interesting read - I finished it in a couple of days. Judith Jones is the editor who brought the world Anne Frank’s Diary and Mastering the Art of French Cooking and many other well known cookbooks in the 1950s, 60's and 70's. She was there to ride the wave of French cooking and good home cooking in general and eventually international cooking in America at a time when jello molds and cream of mushroom casserole’s were a standard.
Jones doesn't dwell too More...
Jones doesn't dwell too More...
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Oct 22, 2008
Nikki
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People who enjoyed Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France will probably enjoy this one as well. Judith Jones was Julia Child's editor and also worked with most of the other famous cookbook authors of that era. She was also married to food writer Evan Jones, with whom she did some cookbooks as well. Judith Jones enjoyed food from an early age, even though this was discouraged in her family, and when she first went to Paris in the late 1940s she fell in love, first with French food and then with
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Jan 23, 2011
I knew Judith from when I worked at Knopf and she has been the editor for many of the best cookbook authors ever: Julia Child, Marcella Hazan, Claudia Roden, Lidia Bastianich among them. She has had a perfectly enviable life and writes about it with economy and relish. What timing she has had, not just being on the forefront of every new food development, but also being poor in France when poverty meant a simple slice of pate de maison for lunch and dinner out at a darling bisto with wine, and s
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Oct 11, 2009
Christine
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Judith Jones introduced Julia Child to American cooking and has spent her life perfecting the art of eating well. Its a bit light but I enjoyed learning more about the "early days" when Americans weren't interested in cooking or particularly what they were eating. She's more of a dig up your own mushrooms in the woods kind of gal but her life story is readable and interesting if you are at all interested in how we ended up with Food Network or so many cooking magazines.
Oct 31, 2011
Keith
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By the publisher made famous by Julia Child. I wouldn't have known the name but for the film Julie and Julia (mini-review of the film - I wish it had just been named Julia). This memoir is interesting for its retrospective of the growth of the American Foodie movement. There are some good Julia Child anecdotes and Judith herself is a pretty entertaining person herself. For Julia Child buffs who've already read My Life in France you may as well read this next.
Jun 08, 2011
Margaret
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I really liked this and would love to have given it five stars, but Jones skims the surface in so many places. Maybe it's too nosy to want to know more about her personal life, but the bits she does give make me curious. And I'd have loved many, many more stories about all the chefs and cookbook writers she knew and worked with: Julia Child, James Beard, Madhur Jaffrey, Lidia Bastianich, Marion Cunningham, Claudia Roden...a long and impressive list. The small tastes Jones gives of each person ma
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Sep 28, 2009
Carrie
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Judith Jone's life in and out of publishing seems to have revolved around food and there are many worse ways to live. While the book may not convince you to try sweetbreads, you may find yourself with a list of cookbooks as long as your arm, and trying out her recipe for butterscotch cookies. The book reads like a who's who of foodies, from James Beard to(of course) Julia Child, and while it's fascinating to hear her talk about the evolution of the foodie world making its way from the upper ech
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