From Publishers Weekly
Shapiro's biography of Julia Child—one of America's most beloved personalities—is a short but comprehensive book, and the newest in the Penguin Lives series. Born Julia McWilliams in Pasadena, Calif., in 1912, Child attended college and worked for the OSS in Asia during WWII, where she met her future husband. After marrying, they moved to Paris, which led her to cooking classes at the Cordon Bleu. Child had an appetite for learning as well as eating, one that soon developed into a desire to pass on the knowledge and skills—the love—she was acquiring. And in her late 30s, she found her calling. With two women who later coauthored her first book, she started her own cooking school; her class notes led to the cookbook, which eventually led to the television show. Her husband provided steady support, and Child learned of the value of trial and error and an ability to laugh at her mistakes. She was also patient: the cookbook was nearly a decade from conception to publication and the television show started equally shakily. In this wonderful short bio, Shapiro doesn't skimp on less-flattering aspects of her subject's life and personality (Child found homosexuality to be "a rude disruption in the natural order of things").
(Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Laura Shapiro's life of
Julia Child packs the oft-told story of the gregarious giantess into 181 taut pages. Raised in a wealthy family, Julia McWilliams chafed at the stuffy pastimes of her social set, joined the OSS, and, while working in Ceylon, met her husband, Paul Child. In 1948 the newlyweds moved to France, where Julia sampled a famously mind-blowing sole meunire - ''handsomely browned and still sputteringly hot under its coating of chopped parsley'' - and found her calling. What followed is legendary: the Cordon Bleu courses, the contentious work on the cookbook
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the popular TV shows. Shapiro digs beneath the familiar milestones, unearthing Child's shortcomings (she once called for the ''de-fagification'' of American cooking) and, more importantly, the source of her phenomenal appeal. People loved Julia because she was exuberant and unpretentious. Because when her tarte tatin collapsed, she patched it up and said, ''I think that actually makes a more interesting dessert.'' Because she licked the spoon, relished U.S. supermarkets, and did not reflexively sneer at McDonald's [indeed, she deemed the fries ''surprisingly good'']. A- --
Entertainment WeeklyJulia Child was a witty, mesmerizing and authoritative writer. Laura Shapiro has written a life in every way worthy of this formidable woman. All who enjoy food or simply relish strong personalities should read it. --
Barbara Kafka, author Vegetable LoveLaura Shapiro has written a gift of a book, a true love poem to our beloved Julia. Her prose is lively, elegant, tactile, and she perfectly captures all of Julia's memorable traits. We feel that Julia is there at our side, cooking, coaxing, being as blunt and honest as can be. --
Patricia Wells, author The Provence CookbookLaura Shapiro's biography of Julia Child is as bright, smart, funny, charming and companionable as Julia herself. I read the book from cover-to-cover with a smile on my face, remembering my friend and reveling in the stories that are so quintessentially, quirkily Julia - then I read the book again. --
Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking with Julia and Baking, From My Home to Yours
