Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A disappointment, August 26, 2009
Having recently re-read "My Life in France" by Julia herself, I was disappointed that most of the information in this book is taken from Julia's book, with the exception, for example, of the fact that Julia was initially (and in common with American cultural norms of the time) an open homophobe and that she was against the emerging organic food movement, being more in sympathy with mass producers of meats, fruits and vegetables. While it might be important, for the historical record, to present a more rounded picture of Julia than she presents herself (and than we gained from watching her on TV), the effort to "bring her down a peg or two" seems almost contrived.
If you haven't read "My Life in France," buy it instead of this book. If you have, buy one of Julia's cookbooks that you don't already own. Both give more and longer-lasting pleasure.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Under the Crust, August 9, 2007
Did you know that Julia Child had an eye job and three face lifts? That's not the only surprise that lurks inside this deceptively small book. Author Laura Shapiro has written a biography that is mostly sympathetic to its subject, but doesn't shrink from showing Child's less attractive qualities. She was opinionated and rarely shrank from saying what was on her mind. She had no patience for people who didn't agree with her about food. She had no use for vegetarians, organic food, or California cuisine. To friends, she made some homophobic comments. In public she did not.
Shapiro has managed to fit a lot of fascinating information into 181 small-format pages. Unfortunately, the Penguin Lives publishers didn't see fit to include an index, let alone notes. Shapiro addresses this in a note at the end of the book, offering to provide sources for anyone who requests them. It seems likely that most of the quotations she provides in the book were from letters Child wrote to friends or from published interviews.
Even if you've already read about Child's spy days, her introduction to French food, and the first TV shows, here's your chance to read about her breast cancer, how she coped with her husband's decline after a stroke, or what she really thought about McDonald's.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The one and only, June 24, 2008
This review is from: Julia Child (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)
Did you know that Julia Child was a devout atheist? There are many details about Julia Child's life that her adoring public did not know. This small but comprehensive biography is an excellent overview of her long life and successful career. I had heard about her work during World War II, but I didn't know the details of her training, how her acclaimed first cook book came to be, or what went into the success of her TV shows. All these things and more are included here.
What shocked me the most was her siding with the food industry when radical changes in production came to be. She was against organic food, calling it "even worse than health food," and was quoted: "There is no room for the cult that regards `natural methods' as good, and all improvements on nature as bad." She called the genetic engineering of food "one of the greatest discoveries" of the 20th century, and spoke out in favor of irradiation while calling opponents "nervous nellies." She supported the food industry on changes such as pesticides, hormones in beef, and antibiotics in chicken. I would have imagined someone so enamored of food in its natural state would have been at the very least leery of such radical changes
To her credit, she encouraged new young female chefs, and did all she could to advance their careers through publicity and by funding scholarships for these female culinary students. As she advised all her students, she believed love for the food that went into preparing it is what made an exceptional meal. Interestingly, later in her career, she turned to more convenient methods, such as using frozen foods. She was a great fan of the American supermarket, and believed a good cook could create fine meals with all ingredients from a supermarket.
This little biography is a wonderful look into the life of this fascinating woman, and includes much about her exceptional qualities as well as her more controversial views. Laura Shapiro has created an enlightening narrative which gives a complete picture of our one and only Julia Child.
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