Julia Child: The Last Interview and Other Conversations

The Last Interview

by Julia Child, Helen Rosner (Introduction)

This delightful collection of interviews with "The French Chef" Julia Child traces her life from her first stab at a writing career fresh out of college; to D.C., Sri Lanka, and Kunming where she worked for the Office of Strategic Services (now the CIA); to Paris where she and her husband Paul, then a member of the State Department, lived after World War II, and where Child attended the famous cooking school Le Cordon Bleu. From there, Child catapulted to fame - first with the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 1961 and the launch of her home cooking show, "The French Chef" in 1963. In this volume of carefully selected interviews, Child's charm, guile, and no-nonsense advice are on full, irresistibly delicious display.

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, Biography, Cooking

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2018

About the author

Julia Carolyn Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which premiered in 1963.

Reviews

[Royce]

This is a delightful collection of interviews with Julia Child. I learned many things, but I will always follow Julia, when she said, “ I don’t believe in bottled salad dressing…why should you have it bottled? It’s so easy to make. And they never use very good oil.”

[Laura Hoffman Brauman]

I am a huge fan of The Last Interview Series - in it, they take a series of interviews from the course of someone’s life/career and the book culminates with an excerpt of the last interview the individual gave before they passed away. You get such a sense of the individual as a person and their voice comes alive through the course of the interviews selected for the book. I remember occasionally catching Julia Child on television when I was growing up - we didn’t ever set out to watch her show, but she was such an icon that when I read the interviews, it was like I could hear her voice. What has always stuck out to me from any time I have seen her old shows or heard/read interviews with her was the sense of joy that she brought to everything she did. She loved life and it came through. She was also pretty outspoken politically and that was a fun surprise in reading this collection. I’m toying around with picking up the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking for next year and making it a year long process (I’m not doing the Julie/Julia thing, I only want to cook recipes that appeal to me) - and reading this book made the idea of spending more time with Julia appealing.

[Simon Sweetman]

I love this series - and this was terrific. I have a very limited interest in Julia Child but these longform interviews transcended that.

[Julie Chamaa]

Julia Child was certainly one of a kind: Francophile, author of the ground breaking Mastering the Art of French Cooking, pioneering food educator in home cooking, and a woman with a fascinating life even before her career in cooking. Perhaps she could have been called a feminist despite the obvious contradictions between the kitchen and female independence.

This book, based on a series of interviews, was somewhat repetitive because the interviewers are often asking, well, the same questions. The answers to these questions most fans already know, thanks to the film ‘Julie and Julia’ and the latest HBO series ‘Julia’ which both romanticise her life deliciously. What is occasionally seen in this book is a glimpse of Child’s gnarly, crusty character particularly when discussing planned parenthood and the McCarthy era; a nice change from the mostly charming and gushing concoction the film versions portray.

There may be better ways to delve into Julia Child’s thoughts, life and times, such as ‘My Life in France’ or ‘Dearie’ but this series is still useful insofar as interviews are concerned. I found myself ‘hearing’ her uniquely accented voice with wonderful undulating intonation. Worth reading for that alone!

[Mei Yee]

What a legend

[Christy O'herin]

A well-curated collection of interviews spanning many decades in Julia Child's life. The main focus is on her love of cooking (and the projects born from that love), and her interests in politics. I enjoyed most of the interviews, and only really struggled through the one with Jewell Fenzi on life as a wife of an OSS man. It had too many names of people I didn't know about, although the second half was more about cooking and therefore more enjoyable to me. As the years went of, you can see how Child's memory faltered. However, her joy in cooking and her wonder at how it has changed in America through the years remain at the forefront of these interviews.

[Sam Davies]

Despite being called ‘The Last Interview’, this book is full of various interviews with Julia from her later years.
A must read for any fan.
What I enjoyed about this is that despite being what I thought it would be, it was very different to Julia’s other books. It spends time talking about her life pre- television and mentions a few American political moments that I was not aware of, rather than telling the stories of her life in France.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Amy]

We need Julia Child today. So many of her astute comments in this collection of interviews, ranging from 1961-2004, are still (sadly) relevant today.
While there isn't really anything new in this slim collection, for those that enjoy reading everything by and/or about Julia Child, it is always fun 'hearing' her in her own words.

[Sharon]

I'd say this was just okay...while it's great to read Julia's actual words, interviews are (in my opinion) better heard or watched than read because of the "ums" and pauses and repetition which aren't so glaring when they are spoken. Also the actual last interview was awfully short, and it followed a pretty long one, so it was actually a bit of a letdown as a conclusion.

[Kaitlin]

I really enjoyed this, and learned a lot about Julia that I never knew before (which was little to begin with. She was a staunch supporter of Planned Parenthood and thought McCarthyism was disgusting, in addition to being a wonderful cookbook write and tv personality.

[David Macpherson]

A lovely collection of interviews by Ms Child. She was charming and intelligent with everything she did. The only section that was not of interest to me was the long meandering interview about her time as a diplomat's wife. It was just not engaging, but the rest of the book was great.

[Kelly]

This was a book of interview transcripts. If I was bored reading Julia's answers to the same questions over and over again, I can't imagine how bored she would have been being asked the same questions over and over again and having to give the same answers. Skip this.

[Jessica]

Some of these interviews are fascinating; the last interview is a brief letdown. But it's nice to read Julia in her own words.

[Sherry]

Nothing new, but 4 starts for being more Julia.

[Laura]

She was such a dynamic person, better interviews could have been selected.

[Sara]

This collection of interviews had around 4 or 5 interviews spanning Julia Child’s career. Much of this was repetitive, but I really enjoy Julia Child so it was a pleasure to read these.

[Paige Schmitz]

Fast fun read. Interesting to learn about some history & cooking through Julia’s story. Now I want to buy her cookbooks!

[Pam]

I love all things Julia Child. No real new informtion here. Just little tidbits of her life

[Julie Harvey]

This was my waiting in doctor office book. Really enjoyed it.Interesting to hear her side of the stories

[NipNip]

Natural ham.

[Lucy Briggs]

The interviews is this book are variable, but more enjoyable for someone who is already familiar with Julia Child.

[Kirby Anderson]

Expected the final interview to be more substantial. The interviews chosen contained interesting tidbits but were either fluffy, superficial, or self-serving on the part of the interviewer.

[Marge Shaffer]

When asked about her guilty pleasures, she would respond, “I don’t have any guilt.”

[Marilyn]

A fun quick read of various interviews with the great Julia Child.

[Michelle O'Brien]

Quick read, while sometimes repetitive, I did learn a few interesting things.

[julia!]

Absolutely delightful!

[Maxwell Leeper]

Comfort food. A nice little snack that’s like a conversation with your grandma. Made me hungry.

[Kathryn Champion]

A few fun tid bits but repetitive and poorly edited.

[Alyssa]

Whoops, I’ve apparently read this before and didn’t find it memorable then either. Too surface level and weirdly edited/choppy. A pleasant read but really nothing of substance about her life that hasnt been said better in other places.

Original review: Didn’t really learn anything new about Julia child and all of the interviews touched on the same details of her life and career.