sheltzer's review against another edition
I think one of the other commenters said it best. I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.
It's written like a one-sided conversation that someone is having with you and it was not a format I enjoyed. I like my non-fiction to not be ponderous and hard to read, but this was an over-correction.
It's written like a one-sided conversation that someone is having with you and it was not a format I enjoyed. I like my non-fiction to not be ponderous and hard to read, but this was an over-correction.
collismeanshill's review against another edition
Fun and chatty and quick. Good for a few 100F plus days spent reading on the balcony with a cup of tea and cookies.
cdcsmith's review against another edition
4.0
Disclaimer first: I received my copy free as part of a Goodreads, first reads giveaway.
Being from the Boston area and raised on PBS for television, Julia Child was someone I "knew" well and was proud to say was local. Okay, she wasn't exactly local, but living in Cambridge for as long as she did (and during my lifetime), I claimed her (as do a great many Bostonians.
I learned a great deal about Julia from this book. Honestly, I had no idea about her upbringing and I found myself having some truly mixed feelings about it because it was so far different than my own and what I imagined hers to have been. I got over that rather quickly because quite frankly, she makes it easy to forgive offenses such as being born into a fair amount of money with a dad who is just about as opposite in thinking than I ever could be.
About the book and the writing... This was a fast, easy read. I was so entertained as I read, it felt a bit like talking with a friend about someone she knew who was really cool. The influx of "rules" was funny, insightful, worth giving thought to (the bit for saying "sorry", I've been known to apologize for saying I was sorry, so yes, point taken.)
This will not be a literary great discussed in high school English classes in decades to come, but a perfect summer read in my opinion. Great for people who have a fondness for cooking (which I do not), a fondness for Julia Child, or just want to learn some interesting things about a woman who was much more than I had given her credit for.
Being from the Boston area and raised on PBS for television, Julia Child was someone I "knew" well and was proud to say was local. Okay, she wasn't exactly local, but living in Cambridge for as long as she did (and during my lifetime), I claimed her (as do a great many Bostonians.
I learned a great deal about Julia from this book. Honestly, I had no idea about her upbringing and I found myself having some truly mixed feelings about it because it was so far different than my own and what I imagined hers to have been. I got over that rather quickly because quite frankly, she makes it easy to forgive offenses such as being born into a fair amount of money with a dad who is just about as opposite in thinking than I ever could be.
About the book and the writing... This was a fast, easy read. I was so entertained as I read, it felt a bit like talking with a friend about someone she knew who was really cool. The influx of "rules" was funny, insightful, worth giving thought to (the bit for saying "sorry", I've been known to apologize for saying I was sorry, so yes, point taken.)
This will not be a literary great discussed in high school English classes in decades to come, but a perfect summer read in my opinion. Great for people who have a fondness for cooking (which I do not), a fondness for Julia Child, or just want to learn some interesting things about a woman who was much more than I had given her credit for.
mundlecat's review
3.0
This book had great information about Julia Child and some amazing details of her past. Along with Karbos hilarious banter I loved it!
debbic's review
3.0
This book was very much like a souffle,light and airy without much substance. For those readers who are not familiar with Julia's biography this book this might be an interesting introduction to her fascinating life. Karbo uses the book to examine her own feelings about life, family and cooking. Although she is occasionally entertaining, the lessons seem more like her own rather than those of Julia Child.
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