Taking a Julia Journey into the nonfiction kitchen

 

Over the past two years, a certain portion of my daily reading has gone into a sadly steady decline and while nonfiction was never my strong suit, I did try to keep some of it on my regular literary  radar.

Given the state of things for the last couple of years in the real world, my interest in learning more about it seemed repellant to maintaining a hopeful attitude there. Sure, I did read a little bit of good nonfiction once in awhile but more often than not, I strove to avoid it as much as possible.

However, my appetite for nonfiction has been revived lately, due to a renewed pop culture interest in Julia Child(from a Food Network competition and a HBO Max series). Fortunately, this wasn’t the first time that Julia had caught my attention and I happen to still have a copy of her memoir  , My Life in France,  on the shelf.

The book tells the story of how she took an interest in French cooking in the first place as her husband Paul was stationed as a diplomatic cultural liaison over in France after WWII. 

Their life and times in Paris and Marseille, the friends made along the way and Julia’s collaboration with Simone “Simcha” Beck and Louisette Bertholie that lead to the ground breaking Mastering the Art of French Cooking are charmingly detailed in Julia Child’s down to earth manner, a delicious feast of personal experience that needs to be well savored:

My Life in France was co-written by Paul Prud’homme(a grand nephew of Julia’s) and he wrote a solo book about the later years of his aunt”s culinary career.

The French Chef in America is well subtitled “Julia Child’s Second Act” as it covers the creation of her iconic TV show which made public television audiences hunger for more edible education programs.

I happily recall discovering this tasty tome in my local library back in 2019 and now adding it to my personal collection and current TBR, ironically enough, my own copy is a former library edition. Talk about meant to be here!

I also find it fitting that Food Network is airing The Julia Child Challenge (which has its finale this week) as their existence is due to the first foodie steps that Julia made, bringing people together to share in her love of good cooking and good company:

Least you think that I’m just rereading here, I did get another Julia Child themed book that is completely new to me.

Love Always, Julia is a collection of letters between Julia and Avis Devoto(edited by Joan Reardon), the latter being one of Julia’s best friends and a major player in getting that first cookbook published. Avis was married to Bernard Devoto, a journalist who wrote an article about culinary knives that Julia liked so much that she wrote him a letter of praise.

Since Avis handled her husband’s correspondence, she answered Julia herself and the two of them became great friends both in person and in personal print. Avis helped Julia get an  initial offer from an American publisher for Mastering the Art(that one didn’t quite take) and later got her connected to Judith Jones, the editor that did bring the book ultimately to bookshelves everywhere.

In the HBO Max series Julia, Avis is also a major supporting character, played by the incomparable Bebe Neuwirth and it’s great to see such positive female friendships like this onscreen that reflect on real life. 

Being supported in such bold endeavors by sisters in arms, so to speak, does lighten the load but Avis was more that just a gal pal and these letters do showcase her inner life as well, I believe :

My regular fiction reading is doing well but it is nice to expand my mental horizons again. Who knows, I might also reread Julie & Julia again, it’s been some time since I took it up.

After all, J&J is part of the reason that I started this blog in the first place, Julie Powell inspired me to learn more about the culinary arts and to write online, much like Julia Child inspired her to attempt that culinary challenge that lead to her writing career.

Granted, they never met in real life(which just as well since Julia didn’t care for Julie’s cooking blog) and yet they inspired others to appreciate the simple joys of the world for the better. 

While they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I think that inspiration is the truest element of sincerity, passing your deepest passion on to those out there who may not know they need it. Being a muse is one of those callings that when answered, gives as much as it receives in the long run.

At any rate, I hope that my Julia journey leads to more enriching reading and for now, my page turning path is firmly in front of me. If you are similarly inspired as well, I wish you a bon appetit!: