M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, and Alice Waters: Celebrating the Pleasures of the Table (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this interesting but uneven book, Reardon (Oysters: A Culinary Celebration) profiles three women who decisively changed the way Americans think about food: M.F.K. Fisher, whose wide-ranging curiosity about cuisine and cooking was given rein in idiosyncratic, elegant prose; Julia Child, who brought academic rigor and a beguiling lack of pretention to her authoritative cookbooks and various television series; and Alice Waters, whose influential Berkeley, Calif., restaurant, Chez Panisse, emphasized the pleasures of fresh, simply prepared, organic food served at its peak. ("Once you taste a tomato in the summer, you won't eat a tomato in the winter.") The three portraits overlap a bit awkwardly, and revelations of private triumphs and crises-Fisher's health problems; Julia Child's anguished decision to place her husband, Paul, in a nursing home; Waters's romantic entanglements-seem intrusive, given Reardon's prevailing emphasis on the professional lives of these women.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Reardon (Oysters, LJ 10/15/84), whose articles have been published in the Los Angeles Times and Christian Science Monitor, serves up a savory biographical repast about three women who revolutioned the culinary arts in America. Breaking the traditional mold of describing food merely in terms of process and presentation, each brought forth unbridled artistic aspects previously unknown to the culinary scene. The author recounts how M.F.K. Fisher's culinary writings have reminded readers that food is not only a necessity but an art. She reveals how Julia Child, the grande dame of televised cookery, cultivated a renewed interest in French cuisine and gourmet foods for many Americans and how Alice Waters popularized the traditions of California cookery from her Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California, with her emphasis on fresh, locally grown, and seasonal ingredients. Reardon discusses mutual friendships and parallels in the lives of these three women. She emphasizes that, with roots in California and strong influences from France, each has instilled a new artistic spirit in American cookery. Recommended for general readers.
Michael A. Lutes, Univ. of Notre Dame Lib., Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: Harmony; 1st edition (October 4, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517577488
• ISBN-13: 978-0517577486
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,205,944 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another solid book by Reardon, August 9, 2008

By	Roger Jones (Texas) - See all my reviews

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Joan Reardon does two things well: She does exhaustive research and she then takes that research and writes interesting stories. This book, about the professional lives of M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child and Alice Waters, takes the reader into another era and makes the reader want to stay in that era - for at least longer than it takes to read the book. It's fun to see what goes on in the private lives of these celebrities and, you'll never think about food in the same way.