Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child

by Bob Spitz, Kimberly Farr (narrator)

It’s rare for someone to emerge in America who can change our attitudes, our beliefs, and our very culture. It’s even rarer when that someone is a middle-aged, six-foot three-inch woman whose first exposure to an unsuspecting public is cooking an omelet on a hot plate on a local TV station.  And yet, that’s exactly what Julia Child did.  The warble-voiced doyenne of television cookery became an iconic cult figure and joyous rule-breaker as she touched off the food revolution that has gripped America for more than fifty years.

Now, in Bob Spitz’s definitive, wonderfully affectionate biography, the Julia we know and love comes vividly — and surprisingly — to life.  In Dearie, Spitz employs the same skill he brought to his best-selling, critically acclaimed book The Beatles, providing a clear-eyed portrait of one of the most fascinating and influential Americans of our time — a woman known to all, yet known by only a few.

At its heart, Dearie is a story about a woman’s search for her own unique expression.  Julia Child was a directionless, gawky young woman who ran off halfway around the world to join a spy agency during World War II.  She eventually settled in Paris, where she learned to cook and collaborated on the writing of what would become Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a book that changed the food culture of America.   She was already fifty when The French Chef went on the air —  at a time in our history when women weren’t making those leaps.  Julia became the first educational TV star, virtually launching PBS as we know it today; her marriage to Paul Child formed a decades-long love story that was romantic, touching, and quite extraordinary.

A fearless, ambitious, supremely confident woman, Julia took on all the pretensions that embellished tony French cuisine and fricasseed them to a fare-thee-well, paving the way for everything that has happened since in American cooking, from TV dinners and Big Macs to sea urchin foam and the Food Channel.  Julia Child’s story, however, is more than the tale of a talented woman and her sumptuous craft.  It is also a saga of America’s coming of age and growing sophistication, from the Depression Era to the turbulent sixties and the excesses of the eighties to the greening of the American kitchen.  Julia had an effect on and was equally affected by the baby boom, the sexual revolution, and the start of the women’s liberation movement.

On the centenary of her birth, Julia finally gets the biography she richly deserves.  An in-depth, intimate narrative, full of fresh information and insights, Dearie is an entertaining, all-out adventure story of one of our most fascinating and beloved figures.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Food, History, Biography Memoir, Audiobook, Memoir

Audiobook

First published August 7, 2012

About the author

Bob Spitz is the award-winning author of The Beatles, a New York Times best seller, as well as seven other nonfiction books and a screenplay. He has represented Bruce Springsteen and Elton John in several capacities. His articles appear regularly in magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times Magazine; The Washington Post; Rolling Stone; and O, The Oprah Magazine, among others.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I had such hopes for this book, but after listening to about 3 hrs of it I gave up. The author seemed so caught in every minute detail of her life that he couldn't get to the good stuff. During the 3 hrs that I listened, I learned that she had ancestry back to the Mayflower, wore a gingham dress as part of her high school uniform and ate at dinners in New York during the 1930's. Shesh!

The author also tended to have a tone of superiority in his writing that i really didn't like. Several times I felt that I might have to stop and defend Julia, which is just among sillies ideas ever.

However, if you are looking for a ridiculously detailed book about Julia's life, you'll enjoy this. If not, go read Julia's memoir, My Life in France. It's far more interesting, has Julia's voice & is much shorter.

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might have been impressed by this book if I hadn't already read Noel Riley Fitch's Appetite For Life last summer and Julia Child's own My Life In France several years before that. But I have. So I wasn't.

There is little new material here.Aside from an occasional nugget or two, everything here was covered in those books. Spitz spends a good deal of time imposing his own view of Julia upon her behavior, commenting on social history and slanging American home cooking--and as a home cook myself, there are other choices between can/frozen food cooking and Julia's masterpieces when it comes to everyday dinners!

Spitz also attempts to be hip, describing a young Julia in college as getting "shit faced" drunk and other such phrases that are more Julie Powell than Julia Child. His frequent comments about her "saucy" sense of humor come off as more cutsey than anything else. And how about the infamous valentines she and Paul used to make and send their friends? Far more telling than most of the incidents he brings up, and he only mentions that in passing.

This is getting good publicity, but if you want better, truer portraits of our Julia, read the other books and give this one a pass.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have adored Julia Child ever since I saw her cook on PBS in the 1970s. I hands down give her credit for my love of food and cooking. I have more of her cookbooks than any other in my collection (nine) and never pass up the opportunity to read something about her, or catch an old episode of “Jacques and Julia.” So when my own dearie brought home the latest biography in honor of her 100th birthday, I couldn’t wait to sit down and sink in.

I love the story that Child started cooking while in her late 30s and “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” was published when she was in her 50s. For those of us looking for someone to look up to for that second phase of life, she was it. A consummate businesswoman, she worked well into her late 80s. That said, Spitz added a bit of dust to her shine, at least for me. She allowed her lawyer to cut ties with longtime publisher and editor Knopf and Judith Jones in one fell swoop, she was a raging homophobe, she had a facelift (!), and she was emotionless and sometimes caustic. While everyone has looked up to the love affair and marriage of Paul and Julia Child, Paul was at times an incredibly difficult man, especially following a series of heart attacks and strokes. How was Julia able to balance a crazy schedule of TV and book appearances as well as writing the latest and greatest cookbook AND taking care of her unwell husband all at once? Spitz gave us only the slightest look. I probably would have crawled under a rock, but she appeared to deal this deck she was given with aplomb and finesse. I wonder how that is possible. All these and much more have lead me to look at her in a different light.

Spitz has a definite voice as a biographer; adding his own opinion here, comments there. When I read biographies I really don’t want the voice of the writer, I want to hear the voice of the subject.

I’m glad I read this book, but feel like a young child who discovers there is no Santa Claus; still somewhat mystified by the myth, yet sad it isn’t what I had imagined.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter how many books I read of this marvelous woman, when it gets to the end, with her death, I weep. Every time. Like I've lost a favorite auntie.

I actually don't remember ever following one of her recipes. I probably do, when I use a family recipe of folks that have. . .and frankly, I cook less and less, Blanche-like, being dependent on the cooking of strangers. . .Still, her life story is the stuff of adventures and a well-lived swirl on this mortal coil!

The book is long, and we listened to part of it on the long, spring green gorgeous I-84 highway (mostly follows the Oregon Trail). Even the kiddo in the backseat knew who she was. While it could have been told in a shorter version, I was pleased with every extra tidbit given.

Thanks for the memories, Bob Spitz!

[Tanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

on chapter 14 today
This is a book that you don't want to finish because you don't want it to end. It's re-energizing my drive to bake more bread ... not really the right time for that at the moment.

Six years in France; 4 in Paris, 2 in Marseille. What an amazing experience and Julia maximized it.
Fascinating the relationship between Julia and the two French women collaborators and then her connection with Avis DeVoto - I loved that book "As Always, Julia".

Hate to have finished this.
This was a wonderful mix between easy reading facts and presenting a wonderful life and character.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This biography is much more warts and all than My Life in France, the memoir Julia wrote with her nephew. I would have given this a full 4 stars, but it just gets bogged down in the middle with far too much information about other chefs, foodies, in-fighting, and recent food movements/trends that bored me. Of course, if you're interested in these things, you'll love reading about them.

One thing I did notice, is how much Julia came to resemble her father in character after she got older. Their politics and ways of looking at the world were entirely different, but both of them loved to stir up sh*t for fun, bait people to make a point, and were extremely stubborn. Father and daughter played their cards close the chest, didn't like to display emotion and were logical thinkers. How Julia and her Pop would have responded to this opinion is up to debate.

What comes through here is Julia's willingness to work very hard, her kindness and generosity to those she loved, her bawdy sense of humor, and an unswerving loyalty to classic French cooking as the standard by which all other food traditions should be judged.

Well worth a read for Julia Child fans.

[Lynette Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book on a whim. While I enjoy some biographies, I really had little interest in Julia Child. Sure, I read "Julie and Julia" and liked it well enough - thought the movie did not live up to the book. But I don't do French cooking and while I love to eat, I don't like spending all day in the kitchen.

This turned out to be another book I could not put down. If I'd known Julia Child, I'd have been so proud to be her friend. She epitomizes the strong woman - coupled with optimism, passion, dedication. Wow, just wow.

The author admits to having a "crush" on her. Well, add me to the list of the many who admire nearly everything about her. Don't let the frumpy clothing fool you - this was a take-no-prisoners, eternally young artist. And ridiculously likeable. Bob Spitz brings Julia to exciting, vibrant life. I loved this book. I'm lifting a glass to Julia tonight.

[Preeti · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband says I have weird tastes. As I mentioned in my review of the last Julia Child book I read, I have no obsession with food or France. I don't cook often. Yet, here I am, reading this extensive biography of Julia Child. I just don't like to (usually) limit myself!

My ideas of Julia Child were fairly vague till now, then formed a bit more after reading My Life in France, but now they're fairly solid, though probably not quite comprehensive yet.

The reason I say this is because this book, while very extensively covering Julia's life (what is it about Julia that we want to call her by her first name?), definitely displayed a certain - positive - bias. The author admits as much in his Sources and Acknowledgments section, wherein he says that he had "a powerful crush on her." I'm not sure if it was because of this, but at times I felt I wanted the other side of the story, such as with her rivalry with the "woman from Newton."

It was really interesting to learn about her political views as well - how she was liberal, fought to bring women into the spotlight, and supported Planned Parenthood. Yet, she was seen as a homophobe up till a certain point in her life, and she railed against things like the Environmental Defense Fund and Rachel Carson. Alas, there is no black and white in the world - things are pretty much always grey.

But overall, I enjoyed reading this and learning more about Julia's life. She was definitely an inspiring woman, quite a character, and someone without whom the US probably wouldn't be the way it is today.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good biography doesn't read like a biography. It doesn't speak directly about the person (the subject) and start sentence after sentence with "she _______" or make blatant statements about their character like "Julia was a non-conformist." It also doesn't speak with a pre-determined tone of what we know or expect the person to be- merely confirming and reinforcing the general opinion or knowledge about the person. These are all of the reasons why this is not an interesting or well written biography.

Try instead a gradual and intimate unfolding of detail and story in Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noël Riley Fitch. It reads like good history books, drawing you closer to the subject, illuminating aspects of their world with context and depth. A good biographer is a intimate storyteller surrounding a person's life- without directly "telling" about the person. We are what happens to us and what we do in the eyes of others, and capturing that is the goal of biography/memoir.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child" is one of those page turners. She lead an interesting life. Her mischievous humor, fun attitude towards life and that inner drive that she finally discovered inside herself towards cooking, food testing and food perfection in recipes are all the facets that made her great. She was a one-of-a-kind woman, and unique to the cooking world.

[Marca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia was a force of nature, that is for sure. Julia was fearless and full of adventure during a time when women were legally relegated to second-class citizens. She made her own way and followed her own path, and made changes in the world. This biography follows her through the war years where she worked for the spy department, her long-time marriage to Paul Child, her years abroad where she discovered French cooking, and the inception of the Julia Child empire we all know today. I actually met Julia and Paul in the early 80’s. I worked in a camera shop in Montecito, CA and Julia and Paul brought their film to our shop to be developed. (Paul photographed Julia’s cooking demonstrations.) Julia was every bit as tall and imposing (but nice) in person as she was on TV and her voice was exactly the same. I am glad to have met her, even as a camera shop clerk. I listened the audio version of the book and the reader Kimberly Farr did an excellent job. Kimberly voices Julia with just a hint “of the voice” without being a parody, and she pronounces all the French food so well that I was drooling, even though I did not know what most of it was. This is a loving warts-and-all bio of a true pioneer.

[Fran Hutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dearie tells the story of Julia Child, one of my heroes. She was a late bloomer, who, a decade after graduating from Smith (and barely at that) still didn't know what the heck to do with her life. By the time she died in 2004, two days shy of her 92nd birthday, she was an American icon. Her kitchen can be seen in the Smithsonian, and on this web link http://amhistory.si.edu/juliachild/

Biographies are perhaps my favorites reads. I am always interested in reading about the childhood of intriguing people, wondering what it was that motivated them, or what circumstances of timing and opportunity shaped who they became. By all accounts Julia was destined to be the stuffy conservative socialite wife of some wealthy entrepreneur or old school moneyed family. If, that is, she survived the hi-jinks of her childhood and college years. She was a party animal who eventually looked for more.

When WWII came, she entered the OSS, having been turned down by the WAVEs and the WACs because at 6'2" (or maybe 6'3" depending on who you asked) she was too tall. She worked during WWII in India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and China. Rather than be a bored diplomat's wife after she finally married her OSS cohort, Paul Child, she went to Le Cordon Bleu, published a book at age 49, and at age 51 became a television sensation. I remember...I watched her. She demystified cooking. She was funny, the down-to-earth woman who encouraged you to be brave and have fun with the food. She let us eat butter, and cream, and good red wine.

Thank you Julia Child, and thank you Bob Spitz for this wonderfully rich biography that lets us learn more about this pioneering woman who paved the way for every cooking and food show out there today. Bob Spitz captured her free spirited, opinionated, humorous outlook on life, without skimping on the difficult parts she endured. The book is long, but well worth the read.

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I enjoyed most is that Bob Spitz’s Julia the Remarkable Life of Julia Child captures how much fun it could be being Julia Child. What I like least was how little Spitz prepared us for the Julia’s harder edges. I am in some agreement that this is a long biography. For me it began to drag towards the end. Over all Spitz helps us to understand this woman. We share her delight in cooking, in her friends and in her ability to build the life that best fitted her. Spitz manages to describe how hard she worked at her books and television broadcast without burying us in the specific details of techniques or recipes. Julia is more than recommended.

Julia Child was a member of the so called best generation. However she grewup through the depression as a mostly petted member of a well to do Pasadena banking and land owning family. As a child she was not driven and the expectation for her was that she would marry rich and produce children. With this in mind she made her way through Smith College mostly by being popular and athletic. She had a history of high-jinks and mischief that might not have been excused except for family connections (not emphasized in the book) and personality.

Upon graduation and after a few jobs, none important to her, she joined the Office of Strategic Service, America’s Spy agency during World War II. Here she was mostly a secretary in relatively remote if comfortable bases in the Chinese/Burma Theater. The description of her flying over the ‘Hump”which was one of the more dangerous travel routes in the war; is one of the best passages in the book. While in the OSS she meets and will later marry Paul Child. He will be the great love, travel and work companion of her life. But so far not a hint of her as the great home cook and first nationwide public television star.

In the years shortly after WWII Paul is with the State Department and assigned to Paris. As much from boredom fueled by a literally consuming passion for fine French dinning as any real plan; she begins her education as a cordon bleu classically trained French Chef.
From these few weeks of intensive study and practice she will spend 8 years co-writing her most famous book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And what follows will be her hard work to the top of the charts as a television personality and writer of some of the first Best Seller cook books. Spitz even credits Julia as an inventor of the Book Tour.

Along the way she will have to begin to make hard decisions about who will publish her books, what recognition to give those who helped her and other aspects of the business of being a famous cook. In fits and jolts we are introduced to the woman’s harder edges. Some harsh thing we can understand as when an early co-author fails to carry her weight and when an old friend almost becomes another kind of serious problem.

And unexpected aspect of the book was an introduction to the gossip and power plays among the various most famous chefs, James Beard and other chefs best known 20 years ago. How Julia responded to French Nouveau and the revolutionary arrival of California and fusion cooking styles with the new competition for America favorite television chefs was a topic that created its own narrative tensions.

There are hard decisions to be made about publishers, lawyers and contracts. All of these are things any business person has to address. It is not unusual for a business person to be cold and direct in making decisions. Spitz tends to spring these moments on us with or without apologies. Given the length of Julia, it can be argued that there was not time to perform more than a mention of these events, but there are enough of them that she could have prepared us for this side of Julia Child.

The last few chapters tended to drag. A few too many reminders that her husband, 12 years older than her; suffered a long decline into his final days. Too many mentions of the loss of friends and associated that attend the later years of a long life. We are told that she quickly has to re assess her attitude about homosexuals. This happens in the brief time between learning that her “he man” lawyer was gay and was soon to die from AIDS. All of this is mixed in with a few too many descriptions of how she feasted and feted and worked up into her 80’s. Perhaps Spitz was reluctant to end his story, but at over 500 pages, some of this could have been handled more efficiently.

[Lynn G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read My Life in France and Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen some years ago, I was intrigued to read this biography of renowned culinary star, Julia Child. Julia Child's warbling voice was frequently heard in my parents' home as my mother was a devoted fan. Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 & 2: The Essential Cooking Classics was the frequent source of delicious meals cooked by my mother. So, I am no stranger to Julia. I was, however, an indifferent fan.

Reading made Julia Child come alive for me. She became three-dimensional. Her husband, Paul Child, also became fleshed out. Both Julia and Paul had issues with their families that shaped their lives and personalities. Paul seemed dark and mercurial but always supportive of Julia. Julia was rather larger than life, an over-the-top personality, domineering, ribald, and obsessive to a fault when it came to mastering cooking and, subsequently, writing her several cookbooks, as well as becoming t.v.'s French Chef.

Paul became "second fiddle" to Julia; a role he never wore comfortably but one he accepted with intensity and loyalty. Julia considered Paul the love of her life and he felt the same way about her. They supported, encouraged, and defended each other through all the travails of their more than 45 years together.



is one of the best biographies I have read. It seems well balanced in spite of the author's admitted crush on his subject.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before there was a Food Network, there was Julia Child. "Dearie" is an entertaining and often poignant look at her life.

Bob Spitz presents us with a well-researched biography that could easily have been dry as burnt toast and instead lets us see behind the television personality to the woman.

Julia McWilliams was born in 1912 into a well-to-do Pasadena family and seemed to have her life mapped out; ideas about women's roles were firmly entrenched in both society and her family. Instead, she longs to break out; after attending Smith College, she is at loose ends until she decides to work for the OSS. Traveling all over the world, she meets a fascinating new circle of friends ... and her future husband, Paul Child.

It is Paul's OSS assignment to Paris that brings Julia into a whole new world of food, including fighting her way into Le Cordon Bleu classes with more content than those offered to bored housewives. Child is eager to learn proper technique, which becomes extremely important later when she and two of her friends decide that they want to write a cookbook that teaches American women how to prepare French food (the famous "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" books).

Spitz not only takes us through the ups and downs of the Childs' marriage, but also the challenges involved in producing cookbooks (constant testing of recipes and techniques) and even producing the first television cooking show ("The French Chef"). The format is now a familiar one: a chef in the kitchen talking about how to use the ingredients and/or prepare the dishes, all the while producing pots and pans that show all stages from start to finished project.

I think it is fair to say that there would be no Food Network without the pioneering efforts of Julia Child!

This is not, however, a book about cooking. It's about a fascinating and complex woman who loved good food and wine, could swear like a stevedore, and was always ripe for some kind of adventure. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

(Review based on uncorrected advance proof.)

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Bob Spitz spent several weeks traveling through Sicily with Julia Child in 1992 and admits that he developed “a powerful crush on her,” which inspired him to write Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child. The book’s release coincides with the 100th anniversary of her birth, and it’s the perfect way to celebrate the rich life of this culinary legend, television pioneer, and cultural icon. Both the author’s admiration and Julia’s larger-than-life personality shine through in this in-depth new account of her life.

In 1942, Julia wanted to join the Women’s Army Corps or the Navy WAVES, but she was rejected by both organizations because at 6’3” she was considered too tall. Instead, she began to work for the Office of Strategic Services (the precursor to the CIA). While working for the OSS, she met Paul Child, and they married in 1946. Paul and Julia moved to Paris in 1948, and Julia had a life-changing experience eating sole meunière on her first day in France. Food became Julia’s passion. She attended the Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and began to teach cooking. She also co-authored Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which is now considered a classic cookbook.

In 1962, Julia was featured on a segment of People Are Reading on Boston's WGBH to discuss her cookbook. She shocked the host by making an omelet on a hotplate on live television and unknowingly launched a revolution. That first television appearance led to her successful cooking show The French Chef, the growth of educational television and what later became PBS, and the current popularity of the Food Network and celebrity chefs. Julia was fearless in the kitchen and had a unique ability to make cooking seem completely accessible and fun. She made America wanted to cook along with her.

Julia passed away in 2004, but her ground-breaking work will always be remembered. She changed the landscapes of both American food and television. In the words of the lady herself, “Bon appétit!”

[Jane Hoppe · Rating 3 out of 5]

How many books about Julia Child can a person thoroughly enjoy? Three, it turns out. Having read Noel Riley Fitch’s biography, Appetite for Life, and Julia Child’s and Alex Prud’homme’s My Life in France, I wondered if Bob Spitz’s Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child might prove to be too much of the same. It did not. Though time line events were familiar, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and interviews were new.

Because of this third book about Julia Child, I think I understand her thinking and principles and decisions a bit better. Spitz presents more of her hard edges than the other books do. Whether his presentation of her driven, angry, rebellious, and earthy sides is out of balance with the real Julia Child, I do not know. Spitz also reveals business sides of publishing, television, and celebrity. As usual, my favorite take-away was renewed admiration for Julia Child’s belief in herself and her vision, as well as her exuberant taste buds and teaching passion.

The strength of Spitz’s biography is the stories. I didn’t want them to end. Conversations, negotiations, funny moments fascinated me. It is from many of these conversations that the book’s title came; Dearie was how Julia Child often addressed people. The book’s weakness, in my opinion, was a dearth of photos.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew nothing about Julia Child, not even her existence until in a moment of synchronicity I recorded (unsuccessfully due to our crappy signal) Julie and Julia, then found this biog in our local library.

This is a very well-written biography, full of information but not over-burdened with footnotes or citations (they are available on the website should you wish to find out more). The prose is eminently readable, only occasionally falling prey to verbiage, most notably in chapter titles or referring to chapter titles. It really gave me a sense of who Julia was, what she was interested in, and the impact she had on American cuisine. It also made me long for another French holiday and some decent French food.

Julia was an amazing woman and I feel that she is well-served by this biography. It is fairly lengthy but an easy and addictive read - I ploughed through it in a few days as I couldn't put it down.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I'll admit it doesn't sound very exciting to read a ginormous book about a dead chef, especially if one isn't a chef herself, but this one sneaked up on me. I was in the car listening to the Diane Rehm Show and heard the author, Bob Spitz, being interviewed about the book. That, coupled with the fact that I'd received a Barnes & Noble % off coupon in my email, was enough to prod me to order the book. While heft-wise it's certainly no Mastering the Art of French Cooking, it was still intimidatingly dense. Fortunately, it was a really interesting read. It kind of makes me feel better about my own cooking skills to know that the person who had a massively successful cookbook and a fabulously successful tv show that predated the Food Network by decades couldn't cook for crap until she was well into her 30s. It's certainly not a "sit down and finish it in an afternoon" kind of read, but in my opinion, it's well worth getting through.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This large book probably covers more details about Julia's and her families lives than you want to know. It did for me. It also shows the early development of PBS.

Living on the West Coast, all this action in Boston and New York might as well have been on Mars. In the 1960's and 70's, we were all about making a living and raising children. We were at war. Television was not an important part of our lives and French cooking even less so. We had cookbooks; 101 ways to cook a hotdog; the I hate to cook cookbook and Betty Crocker. What more did we need?

This is a compelling tale, going into much more depth than I needed to know. But it is well done since Mr. Spitz apparently had access to much of what Julia had written to her friends and family as well as getting into her personal papers.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read several other bios of Julia Child, I would say that, while this is a fine book, it is not my favorite (My Life in France & As Always Julia are my favorites, as they are taken from Ms. Child's own words and focus on the 1940s-1960s). Spitz often draws conclusions about events and Child's life that aren't supported by any evidence that he presents. Also, the time spent on her very early life, while interesting and important, seems overly long.

On the good side, Spitz presents an unvarnished Child, the real person behind the gourmet hero that we know. She was very much a business woman (especially from the 1970s forward) and reacted to situations with little emotion. We also learn about the less appealing side of her beloved Paul who adored her and helped create the person that she would become but was also very judgmental and difficult.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very comprehensive look at Julia Child's live. I particularly enjoyed learning about how she met Paul and her time working for the OSS in WWII. I used to hate cooking and thought I couldn't be good at it, but after I found out that Julia started out as a bad cook, I figured I could get better too. She lived an amazing life!

[Feisty Harriet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts so, so slow! Like, the founding of Pasadena in the 1800's slow...followed by Civil War stories about, I assume, Julia's ancestors. Honestly, I skipped the first 100ish pages because I truly do not care about her Indiana grandparents walking across the plains to settle in California. I just hoped that I wouldn't be lost in chapter 57 when they discussed The Pasadena Incident (there is no Pasadena Incident, but please skip those first super unnecessary chapters!). Once Spitz finally started talking about Julia herself, I was engaged and interested; she lived such a varied and amazing life. Julia went to college during prohibition (and drank like a fish at every possible chance) and wrote her last book on a laptop computer when she was in her 80's. Her life was full of so many changes and progress, she lived all over the place (Ceylon/Sri Lanka, France, Norway, California and Massachussets) and traveled extensively with her sweetheart-husband, Paul Child. She didn't start cooking until she was in her late 30's and she completely revolutionized how Americans think about food, about home cooking, about authenticity, and about TV personalities.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.
This was a long audiobook but it was great. Julia’s life really was remarkable. It was just never ending all that she did. For someone who lived from 1912-2004, she really saw it all. And was on her feet working and enjoying life for pretty much all of it. She even was supposed to be on the flight from Boston heading to LA on 9/11 but wasn’t on the flight because filming plans had to change and then pushed the flight back to later in the week. So amazing and crazy.
I knew she was famous for cooking but I had no idea how famous. I didn’t realize that she was on tv basically for my parents entire lives and part of mine. That she had so many cookbooks and had much people really loved her. From this book her personality seemed hilarious. Like someone I would’ve loved to be friends with or spend my time with. And for someone who lived during such controversial times in history, her views on social issues seemed to evolve as theme changed too which is awesome to see from someone who grew up in an extremely conservative family during pretty conservative times. She traveled and lived all over the world too, which I had no idea about either. This book was long but all of it was relative and interesting. Definitely recommend to everyone. Whether you know about her or care about cooking, for such a prominent figure in American history, I think everyone needs to know all about her.

[Andie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Julia Child (Is there anyone in America who doesn't?) and this biography just made me love her more. From her pampered childhood in Pasadena, California to her rebellions against a restricted upper middle-class life, to her rather late in life embrace of French cuisine, she remains a likable and upstanding woman.

Julia Child looked at life squarely in the face and refused to accept defeat in anything she had put her mind to. That's the way she lived her life - right up until it was her turn to "fall of the raft" (as she called death)

This was a joy of a book to read.

[Jay Gabler · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s gratifying that Julia Child finally got the biography she deserved, a clear-eyed but affectionate volume that’s formed the backbone of all the well-justified attention paid to her legacy in recent years.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!! Great story!! It was interesting to learn about Julia child!!

[Morgan Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julia Child had a super interesting life. That being said, it’s becoming very irritating that so many biographers feel the need to give their enlightened moral input on their subjects opinions and actions. Just tell the story well and let me form my own opinions, please!

[Ericka Clou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me 3 weeks to finish this one-- it's long!! Perfect for a person who, like me, knows almost nothing about Julia Child, and unlike me, desires to know absolutely everything about every second of her life. It was an interesting and entertaining book but could have been cut down to half the length.

[Jen Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a life. I was afraid this might be too long, at over 1,000 pages, it was great. I can’t imagine it any shorter. Very comprehensive and captivating.