Backstage With Julia: My Years with Julia Child - Softcover

Barr, Nancy Verde

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470276371 ISBN 13: 9780470276372

Publisher: Harvest, 2008

Synopsis

You’ll love this intimate portrait of the inimitable Julia Child by Nancy Verde Barr, her executive chef and friend for twenty-four years. Brimming with anecdotes, memorabilia, and snapshots, Backstage with Julia conveys Julia’s generosity, her boundless energy, and her love of food and life. This loving memoir celebrates the adventurous, unassuming essence of the chef who seasoned American palates and heightened our appreciation of food.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

In 1980, Nancy Verde Barr was drafted to help organize a Julia Child cooking demonstration in Providence, Rhode Island. Barr immediately hit it off with Julia, setting the stage for a relationship that would last twenty-four years—and transform Barr's personal and professional life forever. Now, in this engaging memoir, Barr takes a fond look back at her years with Julia.

At the time Barr joined Julia's team, Julia had long been a celebrity. But as Barr soon realized, Julia didn't act like a celebrity. Julia in real life was the same Julia everyone saw on screen—dedicated to the art of cooking, brimming with energy, and full of fun—only more so. Whether flirting with Charlie Gibson on Good Morning America, lighting biscotti wrappers on fire at an Italian restaurant, or stopping for a hot dog at ten o'clock in the morning ("Why not?"), Julia was the life of the party—and she invited everyone around her to join in the fun.

As Barr took on more and more work with Julia, she became not only a colleague, but a friend. Barr takes us along as she helps orchestrate television tapings, food photo shoots, and live demonstrations—and marvels at Julia's unflagging energy (no one was allowed to utter the "t" word—"tired"), her wide-ranging curiosity, and her special knack for getting past flubs and setbacks. We meet Julia's beloved husband, Paul, and their extended family of siblings, nieces, and friends, and see what it was really like to have dinner at Julia's (hint: you were required to help cook). And we vacation with Julia in Venice, discovering her mixed feelings about Italian food (she never quite saw the point of pasta).

Brimming with stories, anecdotes, and snapshots, Backstage with Julia captures the essence of Julia Child—her generosity, her high spirits, and her openness to new ideas and adventures. It's a loving portrait of a woman who changed the way Americans thought about food and brightened the lives of everyone who knew her.

From the Back Cover:

"Backstage with Julia is packed with endearing anecdotes."
—The New York Times Book Review

From 1980 onward, Nancy Verde Barr was Julia Child's friend and associate—the executive chef who helped orchestrate the television shows, cookbooks, and articles that made Julia such a beloved figure. Now, Barr looks back over their long association and brings to life the real Julia—the adventurous, inquisitive, and often mischievous woman who was completely unassuming despite her fame. Filled with vivid anecdotes and stories—from prepping a cooking demonstration on Good Morning America to vacationing with Julia in Italy—Backstage with Julia offers a delightful behind-the-scenes portrait of America's most revered chef.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvest
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0470276371
• ISBN 13: 9780470276372
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 285