Julia Child
Julia Child lived in different countries because of her husband’s job, but really France is where her heart was. In describing her life in My Life in France (2006), she treats us to a banquet of details about the political, cultural, historical flavours of her time and place as well as personal details about her marriage and her relationships with friends and family. And of course there’s always food and cooking!
More by Julia Child
Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking. 2000. [with David Nussbaum]
An American Feast: A Celebration of Cooking on Public Television. 1999.
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. 1999. [co-authored by Jacques Pépin, with David Nussbaum]
Julia’s Breakfasts, Lunches, and Suppers. 1999. [in collaboration with E.S. Yntema]
Julia’s Casual Dinners. 1999. [in collaboration with E.S. Yntema]
Julia’s Delicious Little Dinners. 1998. [in collaboration with E.S. Yntema]
Julia’s Menus for Special Occasions. 1998. [in collaboration with E.S. Yntema]
Baking with Julia: Based on the PBS Series Hosted by Julia Child. 1996. [written by Dorie Greenspan]
In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs. 1995. [with Nancy Verde Barr]
Cooking with Master Chefs. 1993.
Julia Child’s Menu Cookbook. 1991. [in collaboration with E.S. Yntema]
Bon appétit!: A Musical Monologue for Mezzo-soprano and Chamber Ensemble. 1989. [text by Julia Child. Piano-vocal score]
The Way to Cook. 1989.
Julia Child & More Company. 1979. [in collaboration with E.S. Yntema]
Julia Child & Company. 1978. [in collaboration with E.S. Yntema]
From Julia Child’s Kitchen. 1975. [photos and drawings by Paul Child]
The French Chef Cookbook. 1968. [Drawings and photos by Paul Child]
Mastering the Art of French Cooking. 2 vols. 1961-1970. [co-authored by Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle]
About Julia Child
Books
Barr, Nancy Verde. Backstage with Julia: My Years with Julia Child. 2007.
Fitch, Noel Riley. Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child. 1997.
Shapiro, Laura. Julia Child. 2007.
Articles
Blake, Judith. “’A Great Soul’ with a Zest for Life and Food: Julia Child Dies at 91.” The Seattle Times, August 13, 2004.
“Julia Child Biography,” chef2chef Culinary Portal,
Kellenger, Kathryn. “Julia Child: Still Cookin’ after All These Years,” Salon People Feature, August 20, 1999.
McIntyre, Dave. “Au Revoir, Julia!” Wineline, No. 43, August, 2004. Dave McIntyre’s Wineline
Schrambling, Regina. “Julia Child, the French Chef for a Jell-O Nation, dies at 91,” New York Times, August 13, 2004.
Stewart, David. “Empowered to Cook: Julia Gives Us the Courage, Shows Us Her Joy,” Current, June 8, 1998.
DVD
Julia Child!: America’s Favorite Chef. 2004.
Awards for My Life in France
Christian Science Monitor. “Best Nonfiction 2006: Memoir”
Publisher’s Weekly. “PW’s Best Books of the Year: Nonfiction” 2006.
The Quill Book Awards, Cooking, nominee. 2006.
Reviews of My Life in France
Grange, Jennifer. The Cookbook Store Online News, April 21, 2006.
Heller, Rachel. “A Review of Julia Child’s ‘My Life in France,’” Miami Poetry Review, June 19, 2006.
King, Barbara J. “Julia Child: A Life in France,” Bookslut, July, 2006.
Kornbluth, Jesse. “Review,” HeadButler.com, 2006.
Manthey, JoAnn. “A Love Story to France,” About.com: French Cuisine
Riding, Alan. “Becoming Julia Child,” New York Times, May 28, 2006.
“Xpress Reviews – First Look at New Books,” Library Journal, March, 2006.
Following Your Passion
When Julia began cooking, she had no plans for a lifetime in the kitchen. She soon realized, though, that if she were going to be the main cook in her marriage, she wanted to do it properly. It wasn’t long at all before she realized how much she loved it, and once that happened, she did everything she could to follow and nurture her new-found passion. The titles listed below are either to help women follow their passion, or to give some interesting examples of women who did.
Bates, Elena, et al. I Am Diva: Every Woman’s Guide to Outrageous Living. 2003.
Cooper, Ann. A Woman’s Place Is in the Kitchen: The Evolution of Women Chefs. 1998.
Druett, Joan. Hen Frigates: Passion and Peril, Nineteenth-century Women at Sea. 1998.
Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House. 1999.
Newman, Cathy. Women Photographers at National Geographic. 2000.
Reber, Deborah. In Their Shoes: Extraordinary Women Describe Their Amazing Careers. 2007 [Written for young adults.]
Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Late Achievers: Famous People Who Succeeded Late in Life. 1992.
Culture and Social Customs in the Food World
Because Julia was so passionate about the quality of her cooking, she would walk in her environs all the time, looking for fresh food, speaking to the marketers about their products, learning about their provenance and the best ways to cook them. She lived in France—in Paris and in Provence—in Norway, in Germany, and, of course, in the United States, and each of those locales had its own ways of preparing food.
Ableman, Michael. Fields of Plenty: A Farmer’s Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It. 2005.
Doub, Siri Lise. Tastes & Tales of Norway. 2002.
Nabhan, Gary Paul. Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods. 2001.
Sanders, Michael. From Here You Can’t See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant. 2002.
Shapiro, Laura. Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America. 2005.
Breaking New Ground in the Media
Julia was in France in 1949 when she first started hearing reports about television in the U.S. Of course she had no idea then that television would eventually become a major part of her life, or that she herself would be breaking new ground in that medium.
James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Awards (This is how far the media has come since 1949.)
Fisher, David E. Tube: The Invention of Television. 1996.
Morton, David L. A History of Electronic Entertainment Since 1945. 1999.
Cole, Stephen. Here’s Looking at Us: Celebrating Fifty Years of CBC-TV. 2002.
Stewart, David. The PBS Companion: A History of Public Television. 1999 [This is where Julia did her ground-breaking work.]
Batten, Frank. The Weather Channel: The Improbable Rise of a Media Phenomenon. 2002.
Political Realities
One of the realities in Julia’s life was the strong disagreements she and her father had about politics. Julia was liberal in her thinking, and her father was not, and the differences nearly destroyed their relationship. Julia was, therefore, very aware of what was going on around her politically. She and Paul would have to be politically aware, as they had both worked for the OSS, and then Paul moved to the USIS (United States Information Service). Even the USIS was not exempt from Joseph McCarthy’s witch-hunts.
United States Information Agency. Public Diplomacy Forum
Smith, Richard Harris. OSS: The Secret History of America’s First Central Intelligence Agency. 1972.
Judt, Tony. Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945. 2005.
Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History. 2005.
Belfrage, Cedric. The American Inquisition, 1945-1960: A Profile of the “McCarthy Era.” 1989.
Relationships
Julia is very frank about her relationships with her family, her friends, her co-authors and the Cordon Bleu.
Babette’s Feast. [DVD]
Cook, Mariana, Photographer. Fathers and Daughters: In Their Own Words. 1994.
Pépin, Jacques. Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook. 2007 [Julia and Jacques were particular friends.]
Powell, Julie. Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living. 2005.
Silvers, Robert B. and Barbara Epstein, eds. The Company They Kept: Writers on Unforgettable Friendships. 2006.
(Created with the help of the Oxford County Workshop participants. All sites accessed June, 2007.
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