My+Life+in+France+by+Julia+Childs

toc //To discuss __My Life in France__, please click on the **Discussion** Tab above and add your comments, thoughts, questions, reflections by clicking on "New Post" __**Instructions:**__ __Step 1__. Click on the **Discussion** Tab above// //__Step 2__. Put **first name, last initial and subject** you want to discuss __Step 3__. **Write your comments and POST**! To return to this page, click on the Tab above that says "Page"// =Book Summary= Julia Child single handedly awakened America to the pleasures of good cooking with her cookbook //Mastering the Art of French Cooking// and her television show //The French Chef//, but as she reveals in this bestselling memoir, she didn't know the first thing about cooking when she landed in France. Indeed, when she first arrived in 1948 with her husband, Paul, she spoke no French and knew nothing about the country itself. But as she dove into French culture, buying food at local markets and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life changed forever. Julia's unforgettable story unfolds with the spirit so key to her success as a cook and teacher and writer, brilliantly capturing one of the most endearing American personalities of the last fifty years.

=About the Author=

Julia Child was born in Pasadena, California. She was graduated from Smith College and worked for the OSS during World War II in Ceylon and China, where she met Paul Child. After they married they lived in Paris, where she studied at the Cordon Bleu and taught cooking with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, with whom she wrote the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961). In 1963, Boston's WGBH launched The French Chef television series, which made her a national celebrity, earning her the Peabody Award in 1965 and an Emmy in 1966. Several public television shows and numerous cookbooks followed. She died in 2004. //(Photo credit: (C) Michael P. McLaughlin)// =Possible Discussion Questions= 1. Julia Child was an exuberant personality. How does that exuberance reveal itself when she first moves to France with husband Paul, a country many Americans have found unwelcoming? Why was Julia's experience so different?

2. Talk about Julia's ability to overcome self-doubt and rejection as she pursues her career...both as chef and later as writer.

3. What role does Paul play in Julia's development? How would you describe the quality of their marriage?

4. Trace the process of how Julia comes to fall in love with French food—the fact that it was not just to be eaten but to be experienced. Talk about that first meal in France where she had her epiphany? Anything similar in your own life?

5. Discuss some of the interesting side stories: Julia's relationship with her father, McCarthyism and Paul's subsequent disillusionment with the U.S. government.

6. Consider, too, some of the ironic or humorous moments: language missteps or Julia's initial thoughts about TV.

7. How important was Julia Child's role in introducing America to French food and classical cooking? Has her influence lasted, given the culture's affection for (or addiction to) fast food and convenience cooking, as well as our emphasis on low-fat diets?

8. If you have visited France (or live there), how do Julia's reminisces compare to life in France today? What has changed ... and what has remained the same?

9. If you have cooked with any of Julia Child's cookbooks, especially her most famous, //Mastering the Art of French Cooking//, what were your experiences with her recipes? Difficult? Easy? Delicious? Too rich? Which are your favorite recipes of hers? Do you, in fact, enjoy French cuisine?

(//Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution//.)