The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food
by Judith Jones
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 326)
Read in April, 2008
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. Sh...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. Sh...more
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Read in April, 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 welcomed...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 welcomed...more
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Judith Jones published Julia Child's first cookbook " The Art of French Cooking".
This memoir details Judith Jones love affair with food and friends.
This book spans her simple American food beginnings,with garlic and onion being considered smelly and vulgar to her culinary adventures in France after WWII.
She begins with descriptive first travels to the Loire countryside where she falls for French delicacies.
A country lunch of homemade pate,good local cheese and freshly c...more
This memoir details Judith Jones love affair with food and friends.
This book spans her simple American food beginnings,with garlic and onion being considered smelly and vulgar to her culinary adventures in France after WWII.
She begins with descriptive first travels to the Loire countryside where she falls for French delicacies.
A country lunch of homemade pate,good local cheese and freshly c...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone who reads cookbooks for fun
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" ...more
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Read in April, 2008
Judith Jones is an editor who basically discovered Julia Child, as well as many other cooks who have shaped American taste. In her memoir, she takes us through her life and what she was eating at each stage. And honestly, she's so well spoken, and has such passion/respect for food and cooks that I couldn't help getting caught up in her story.
Ms. Jones is so fearless in what she will eat. Even as an elderly woman she is hungry for new experiences. This book inspired me to make liver for d...more
Ms. Jones is so fearless in what she will eat. Even as an elderly woman she is hungry for new experiences. This book inspired me to make liver for d...more
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Read in March, 2008
I was copyediting a cookbook for work while I was reading this book at night (for fun), so I was a little worried it might be food-reading overkill. But instead, I think it worked out really well, and some of the recipes/terms even overlapped.
I really enjoyed learning about Judith Jones (editor extraordinaire, most notably to Julia Child), and her enthusiasm for all things food is totally contagious. What a fabulous life. I especially appreciate that this book taught me about Edna Lewis, wh...more
I really enjoyed learning about Judith Jones (editor extraordinaire, most notably to Julia Child), and her enthusiasm for all things food is totally contagious. What a fabulous life. I especially appreciate that this book taught me about Edna Lewis, wh...more
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Read in March, 2008
A must-read for foodies all over. I am so envious of the amazing and adventurous life of Ms. Jones. She has been instrumental in getting so many well-known chefs to author cookbooks and has personal anecdotes about legends such as Jim Beard, Julia Child etc. And an amazing personal story as well. Like many privileged young women of her time, she seems to have had interactions (some unplanned) with the great minds and artists of the day. I do wish there were more photographs and a little more abo...more
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Read in June, 2008
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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Read in February, 2008
A fascinating book not only about food and the author's amazing life with Julia Child, James Beard and others but also her passion and hope that our food will return to the way it once was...pure, natural and plain good. It also puts a bright spotlight on today's "celebrity chefs". They make a dazzling meal then repeat it day in and day out. Like Julia Child and others, they knew they were educating, bringing new ideas into the kitchens of homes, and yes, there would be leftovers th...more
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What a life! Judith Jones was one of those fortunate Americans who found her way to Paris after WWII and fell in love with France (and French food), changing her life forever. Jones made her name as the visionary editor who pulled Julia Childs's MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING manuscript out of the slush pile at Knopf and fought to get it published... and that's one of her many impressive feats. Her wry, sensual, and witty memoir is just as rich and savory as foie gras with a nice big glas...more
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Read in August, 2008
Took advantage of a power outage last night to light a candle and finish this book. I enjoyed it, in a fluffy, don't-have-to-think-too-hard kind of way. The author spent years editing cookbooks for Knopf, and the book is not only her story, but the story of how Julia Child, Marion Cunningham, Edna Lewis, Claudia Roden, etc came to be published. Charming, and worth a read for the recipes in the last chapter alone. I'll be making copies of some of those recipes before I return this book to the...more
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Read in July, 2008
Maybe if I hadn't already read so many captivating books by food legends (M.F.K. Fisher's "The Art of Eating" and Ruth Reichl's trilogy among them), this one wouldn't have suffered as much by comparison. Sadly, it's dull as toast. Judith Jones is a solid but staid writer, and she can't muster the passion, drama, and emotional punch of other, greater culinary memoirs. It's too bad, because she must be a fascinating lady in person. Two stars only because she includes some tasty-sounding ...more
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Read in June, 2008
Fascinating memoir by one of the premier cookbook editors of our time; she published the original Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, then went on to work with many cooks in the forefront of the "American food revolution." (Hey, garlic is good!) So nicely written, tells of a life full of literary and cullinary adventures. She is also the editor responsible for bringing Anne Frank's Diary to an American publisher.
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Karen by:
I think NPR? Or Seattle Public Library podcast? Something likerecommends it for: Foodies
This book wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was good. It goes beyond her work with Julia and she talks a lot about working with other cookbook authors I've never heard of. The last section of the book is filled with recipes of things she discusses in the main book.
Strangely the book made me think of my mother and her mother and how great it would be to have a memoir like this from their lives. :)
Strangely the book made me think of my mother and her mother and how great it would be to have a memoir like this from their lives. :)
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Read in January, 2008
After reading about Judith in Julia Child's My Life in France, I wanted Judith's side of the story. As autobiography, the book falls short. She glosses over a lot of personal details like how she became involved with her husband. The book's value is really as a portrait of the great chefs she's worked with -- Julia Child, Madhar Jaffrey, Claudia Robin -- and how they transformed American cooking.
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Read in February, 2008
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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Read in August, 2008
I like that Jones includes recipes at the back of the book that she has mentioned earlier in the text. I particularly appreciated that she did not weave them into the text, as I find that distracting. I liked her writing overall, although I did find some problems in how some of her recipes are written, which is funny, given that she made her living as a cookbook editor...
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The memoir of a fascinating woman.Judith Jones is largely responsible for some of the classic cookbooks of our time, notably as Julia Child's editor - before anyone knew of Julia. An international traveler, food fanatic, and writer, her gift was helping cooks share their gift with the rest of us. In later life, she was an early proponent of the locavore movement.
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Read in March, 2008
The last year or so I've really been enjoying "foodie" literature. This one is really interesting - the author is the editor who "discovered" Diary of Anne Frank and also Julia Child. Besides the food stuff, it is always interesting to read about Americans who headed to Paris right after WWII and spent time there living in relative poverty, but total bliss.
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
any novice foodie
It's great way to learn how and why the American food revolution begun. Judith Jones listen to her instincts and her taste buds. She helped bring about the to organic/health food movement of today. Plus, it describes a by-gone era in publishing. When people published books to make a culture impact, and not always for profit.
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