Julia Child Rules: Lessons On Savoring Life - Hardcover

Karbo Award-winning Author Of The New York Times Notable Book THE DIAMOND LANE, Karen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0762783095 ISBN 13: 9780762783090

Publisher: Skirt!, 2013

Synopsis

Many of us have dog-eared copies of Mastering the Art of French Cooking in our kitchens or fondly remember watching episodes of The French Chef, but what was behind the enormous appeal of this ungainly, unlikely woman, who became a superstar in midlife and changed our approach to food and cooking forever?

 

In the spirit of The Gospel According to Coco Chanel and How Georgia Became O'Keeffe,  Julia Child Rules dissects the life of the sunny, unpretentious chef, author, cooking show star, and bon vivant, with an eye towards learning how we, too, can savor life.

 

With her characteristic wit and flair, Karen Karbo takes us for a spin through Julia's life: from her idyllic childhood in California to her confusing young adulthood in New York; her years working for the OSS in Sri Lanka; her world class love affairs with Paris and Paul Child; and her decades as America's beloved French chef. Karbo weaves in her own personal experiences and stops for important life lessons along the way: how to live by your whims, make the world your oyster, live happily married, work hard, and enjoy a life of full immersion. It celebrates Julia's indomitable spirit and irrepressible joy, giving readers a taste of what it means to master the art of living.

About this title

About the Author

Novelist, journalist, and witty, no-nonsense social commentator, Karen Karbo is the author most recently of How Georgia Became O'Keeffe:Lessons on the Art of Living, hailed by Vanity Fair as "simply a revelation." How to Hepburn, published in 2007, was praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "an exuberant celebration of a great original"; The Gospel According to Coco Chanel, published in 2009, became a national bestseller.            
                Karen's first novel, Trespassers Welcome Here, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and a Village Voice Top Ten Book of the Year. Her other two adult novels, The Diamond Lane and Motherhood Made a Man Out of Me, were also named New York Times Notable Books. Her 2004 memoir, The Stuff of Life, about the last year she spent with her father before his death, was an NYT Notable Book, a People Magazine Critics' Choice, a Books for a Better Life Award finalist, and a winner of the Oregon Book Award for Creative Non-fiction. Her short stories, essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in Elle, Vogue, Esquire, Outside, the New York Times, salon.com and other magazines. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and a winner of the General Electric Younger Writer Award.  
                Karen grew up in Los Angeles, California and lives in Portland, Oregon where, like the 20th century cultural icons profiled in her biography-cum-self-help guides, she kicks ass.

Reviews

The love affair with the iconic Julia Child continues in Karbo's guide to living with abandon, as Child always did, which gives a window into the legendary cook, author, and television host's fascinating backstory. One of the lessons Karbo draws from Child's life is that one must face adversity rather than being daunted by it. And from the start, Child, a red-haired, freckle-faced girl who grew to 6'3, experienced a great deal of knocks. But rather than dwell on her awkward appearance, she felt free to be herself. Child tried to join the military during the WWII effort, but was rejected due to a physical disqualification. She eventually got a job with the OSS (a predecessor of the CIA) and was tasked with organizing massive amounts of data; later, this experience helped her craft precise, detailed recipes. More significantly, she met Paul Child—her future husband and #1 cheerleader—while working for the OSS. As Karbo persuasively argues, Paul gave her herself. Without him she wouldn't have found her calling at last at age 38. Karbo's joyful take on the ebullient, self-described California hayseed will charm readers new to the twists and turns of Child's life, as well as devoted fans. Agent: David Forrer, Inkwell Management. (Oct.)

Edition details

• Publisher: Skirt!
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0762783095
• ISBN 13: 9780762783090
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240