M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, and Alice Waters: Celebrating the Pleasures of the Table - Hardcover

Reardon, Joan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0517577488 ISBN 13: 9780517577486

Publisher: Crown, 1994

Synopsis

A portrait of three women--the late M. F. K. Fisher, author of The Art of Eating; television chef Julia Child; and Alice Waters, proprietor of Chez Panisse--discusses their extraordinary influence on the way in which Americans experience food. 10,000 first printing.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

Pedestrian mini-biographies of three women who are household names among members of the Cuisinart set. Although Reardon (Oysters: A Culinary Celebration, not reviewed) clearly esteems her subjects, all of whom she met while preparing this book, her narratives lack the necessary spark to make them more than the sum of their many--and not always interesting--details. While she records meetings among the women, she does not weave the three biographies into a coherent whole exploring the US culinary scene. Instead, she follows M.F.K. Fisher from youth through three husbands (material about her m‚nage ... trois with husband number one and future husband number two made it into The Gastronomical Me), the Depression-era beginnings of her writing career, and friendship with Julia Child, whom she met as a co-contributor to a book on provincial French cooking. Child's career took off while she lived in Paris, where she met Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, who wanted to produce a ``big book'' introducing American audiences to French cooking. Joining in with the willingness to work and the enthusiasm that later endeared her to television audiences, Child was instrumental in shaping what became the landmark Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The least appealing portrait is that of Alice Waters, who comes across as self-absorbed. Converted to fine dining during a student trip to France, Waters tried, on returning to Berkeley, to persuade fellow activists there to spruce up their menus, arguing that even striking French communists were discriminating eaters. With determination, she and her mostly novice employees made a success of their imaginative restaurant in Berkeley's ``gourmet ghetto,'' and by the time The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook was published in 1982, Waters was, as Reardon notes, ``So In, We Could Die.'' Strictly for the adoring fans of these culinary celebrities. Others will find it indigestible. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal:

Reardon (Oysters, LJ 10/15/84), whose articles have been published in the Los Angeles Times and Christian Science Monitor, serves up a savory biographical repast about three women who revolutioned the culinary arts in America. Breaking the traditional mold of describing food merely in terms of process and presentation, each brought forth unbridled artistic aspects previously unknown to the culinary scene. The author recounts how M.F.K. Fisher's culinary writings have reminded readers that food is not only a necessity but an art. She reveals how Julia Child, the grande dame of televised cookery, cultivated a renewed interest in French cuisine and gourmet foods for many Americans and how Alice Waters popularized the traditions of California cookery from her Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California, with her emphasis on fresh, locally grown, and seasonal ingredients. Reardon discusses mutual friendships and parallels in the lives of these three women. She emphasizes that, with roots in California and strong influences from France, each has instilled a new artistic spirit in American cookery. Recommended for general readers.
Michael A. Lutes, Univ. of Notre Dame Lib., Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Crown
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0517577488
• ISBN 13: 9780517577486
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 302