My Life in France (Movie Tie-In Edition) (Random House Movie Tie-In Books)

Comment: Having first read the book Julie & Julia (by Julie Powell, and mainly about Julie Powell), then read some of Julie Powell's blog entries, and seen the Julia & Julie movie which balanced the story between the two J's, I needed to complete the picture by reading "My Life in France" by Julia Child.

This was by far the star of the whole show. Full of wonderful descriptions of food and cooking, I could almost hear Julia's booming voice coming off the page. The true inspiration in the book though is the fantastic partnership between Julia and her husband Paul. Paul's role extended from tasting her food, photographing her preparations to create illustratons in the book, and even when necessary washing behind the scenes of the TV set.

Reading this book, I realised that the books I have recently enjoyed the most cover exploring foreign countries and cooking/eating - two of my favorites activities!

A mouthwatering book! Now I have to see if I can buy her cooking shows on Amazon.

Comment: I could write a book titled "My Life with Julia." As a newlywed in the early 70s my husband and I ventured across the globe to a new life in Perth without the culinary lifeline our mothers normally would have provided. Dinner parties were the mainstay of our social life in Australia. Hence we needed to learn in a hurry. We cooked our hearts out in a little flat using a few purchased cookbooks, one being Julia Child's Mastering The Art of French Cooking. The food was delicious. Decades later in a bookshop I cast my eyes on a little book titled "Julie and Julia." It was a quick and fun read but soon prompted my renewed curiosity about the woman called Julia Child. So I browsed Amazon and found some DVDs of her cooking shows and this delightful book, My Life in France. The book is a wonderful read and most satisfying as a culinary adventure, a travelogue and as an autobiography. Her story is fascinating and there are many wonderful photos and illustrations included. It deals with her life in France and the events leading up to the publishing of her famous cookbook. A few years after I read this book the movie Julie and Julia came out starring Merryl Streep. I was surprised to see how well the film version managed to portray the warmth and enthusiasm of such an unusual individual as Julia Child. This book, written with such candour and detail, would make a perfect gift for anyone who loves France, French cooking or autobiographies

Comment: This book is very charmingly wrote. I loved reading it. The whole way through the book, you get a sense of being in France along side Julia. You can feel her passion for great food. I recommend this book to any foody!! If you have watched the Julie & Julia movie, you'll really adore this more indepth look. The book spans for the time she spent in France, up until her days of French Chef on PBS. You will not regret this book, it's lovely. Bon Appetite!!

Comment: Should have known better, but I was interested in the subject. Managed to get through about 3/4's of it without being totally sickened by the mention of the treatment of animals unfortunate enough to be chosen for the "feasts" described in this book, but that was it. Now it's in the "round" file - never to be picked up again, lest I forget how it did not appeal to me. Aside from the "animal problem," the book is poorly edited; photographs appear rather haphazardly and are often not identified, a lot of French is used and often not translated - just seems a rather shabby work on the whole.

Comment: Fast delivery, fair price, new condition. Enjoyed the movie so much, when PBS was showing her history I didn't want to move from the TV set, love her personally! Since we now have a new hugh kitchen my husband is letting me do whatever I need it!!! I ordered (3) of her books to my cookbook collection's can't wait...and find out more about her life...