Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child

This book is like new. I am very satisfied. Recommend seller.

Just finished "Dearie", and I will tell you it is a great read. It is entertaining and easy to read. It captures quite nicely the many different eras and settings of a woman who seems to have either represented or lived in so many of the adventures of this country in the 20th century. These might include the industrial growth of California, womans education in the early 20th century, the vast number of roles and responsibilities that came along in winning World War II, how people fought to find their place and make their mark after the war, the life of a (kind of) ex pat American in Europe, chauvanism in the workplace, the mechanics of running public television, the publishing industry...and that is before you get to the little matter of her culinary work, books, and tv shows!The book also struck me as a fond memory of my mother, who was very much one of those American women who embraced Julia and french cooking in the 1960's and used it to strike out to find a creative niche. If my grandmother had made it, or Julia made it, it was worth cooking. If not, well...not so much.The description of nascent public television and the challenge of putting on a tv show-fascinating!So, if you want to read about and learn about Julia Child, pull up a chair and Bon Apetit!However, be warned the writing and the styling and the omissions are enough to drive my review down to four stars, and perhaps to 3 1/2 if that option were available. Spitz's writing flows smoothly enough, but there are enough errors and oddities to diminish the reading pleasure. Example of historical error: Spitz talks about John McWilliams protege Richard Nixon defeating Helen Gahagan Douglas in 1946 for a seat in the US House. Having read many bios on the former president, I think it is quite a stretch to call him a "protege" without more information to back up the claim...and in 1946 Nixon beat Jerry Vorhis in a House race. Nixon defeated Mrs. Douglas for a senate seat in 1950.For some reason Spitz repeatedly dives into the kind of lingo you encounter when someone want to appear...hip? ironic? Not sure, but cannot figure out why he repeatedly refers to accomplished practicioners of art as "studs"...Stud chefs, stud writers, etc.Given how upset chauvanism in the cooking world upset Julia Child, I would have expected more descriptions of her interactions with chefs like Alice Walters, folks who were not on her tv show, and with whom she had differences over both style and degree of training. And Julia's interactions with Madeleine Kamman-a distinct critic-seem to worsen over time. I would be interested in knowing if it was just the result of the same differences over and over, or did Julia just decide one day to stop reacting quasi-gracefully to her antics?On a side note, I was surprised there was no mention of the movie "Julie and Julia", not only because I have read she considered the original blog a cheap stunt, but given her distaste for Meryl Streep I would have expected some speculation over her reaction to the idea of Meryl Streep playing her in a movie.I enjoyed the book and recommend anyone with an interest in Julia Child, American cooking, american television (among other things) get this book...but I wish the editor had taken a little more time correcting for style and fact checking.

Did you ever see a suckling pig being prepared for roasting? Or even want to. If you were a young woman learning how to make a meal for your family in the 1960's you might have witnessed an episode on The French Chef television show that depicted a tiny piglet being lovingly prepared for the oven. This particular episode created a backlash from fans, which were horrified as French Chef Julia Child, cleaned out the pig's nostrils and ears, while tenderly petting the life like creature as she stuffed his cavity with vegetables, sewed him up and then later carved him into pieces. But the controversy did little to deter the feisty Julia Child as her show remained steadfast and strong. Her popularity grew in numbers and the icon had a lasting career.Julia Child was born August 15, 1912 in Pasadena California. Living a privileged life, Julia was well educated. At 6'2, Julia stood out among her peers and was athletic. After marrying, Julia spent some time with her husband Paul, living in France, where she gained a penchant for French cuisine and later coauthored a book called Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Due to the book's popularity, she was invited to have her own cooking show through a Boston television station and thus The French Chef series was born. The show focused on Americanizing French cuisine.Besides the holidays, how many people find the time to cook today? Or even enjoy it for that matter. For the working class, it can be hard to find the time to whip up a home cooked meal or even know what it's like to make one from scratch. Instead we turn to microwave, boxed or frozen meals and fast food is a quick solution. But there was a time where women were expected to slave over a hot stove and prepare a tasty meal for her family. Julia Child set her sights on making cooking fun as well teaching wives the fundamentals of fine cuisine. Today men are in the kitchen as much as women facing the same old dilemma "What's for dinner?"With her proud 40 year career, Julia Child indeed was an American icon.

The story of Julia Child's life is told at considerable length and no doubt after a great deal of research . One feels that the book could have done with some editing - a lot of the detail of her early life could have been pruned rather than cut . The style of the author also grates from time to time - there is a considerable overuse of what are often weak metaphors and their use is also repetitive (something being catnip is used five or six times ) .That said there is a great deal of very interesting detail and the indomitable personality of the subject is well caught . Worth buying and reading but it could have been so much better .

I didn't get beyond 10%. Long-winded and tedious. Probably a bad choice of book for me to read, but it was a book club choice. I may have found it more interesting if I knew something about Julia Childs. I found lots of references to people / businesses / TV shows that a US audience would probably have appreciated much more than me.

Read Julia's own book "My life in France" . This one I found dreary, boring & it makes very heavy going of a remarkable story.

her life was so interesting i was wowed at her story even before she started cooking and to think she couldn't even cook at the begining she basically taught herself to cook

A great biography on a woman who changed the way people cook. Julia Child was one of a kind. She brought French cooking into the average home