Dearie

The Remarkable Life of Julia Child

By: Bob Spitz

Narrated by: Kimberly Farr

The definitive biography of Julia Child - with access to Julia's diaries and letters - written by the author of the best-selling and critically acclaimed The Beatles and timed to Julia's 100th birthday.

From Pasadena to Cambridge to New York, Washington, D.C., India, Ceylon, Paris, Marseilles, Santa Barbara, and Maine, Bob Spitz re-creates an extraordinary life. He takes us beyond the image of Julia as the tall, eccentric woman with a funny voice who taught America how to cook, to establish her as a genuine rebel and beloved icon, a woman who redefined herself in middle age, helped to change the role of women in America, set the standard for how to create a public personality in the modern media world, and altered the way America eats and thinks of food. There might not be a Food Network or even a PBS if Julia had not blazed the trail.

Spitz chronicles Julia's friendships, her struggles, her heartwarming romance with Paul, and of course, the story of the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her triumphant TV career. A thorough, surprising, affectionate, and extraordinarily entertaining account of a truly remarkable life.

©2012 Bob Spitz (P)2012 Random House Audio

Deeply mixed feelings

If you want a glowing biography that shows this icon in an unfailingly positive light, this is NOT the book for you.

If you want to know more about Julia AND Paul before The French Chef and after the peak of that series, this is a great book. If you want to know more about the darker side of Julia (and it seems she did have one), this is a great book. It can be easy to get lost in some of the details, and the lists of names can be confusing. I do wish that the narrator had made a firm decision - to warble or not to warble for Juli's voice - and stuck with it throughout the book. I fully intend to read the book soon to clarify some of the things that lost me, but this lets me wait until I can get it from the library.

I am torn about this book. Don't get me wrong, I have listened to "My Life in France" and "Julie and Julia" and watched just about every PBS special ever made about Julia Child, so I thought I was familiar with her life. This book showed that those other titles may have been skewed more than I knew. While it makes her less of a shining hero, this book makes her more real. I do intend to listen again.

LOVELY Book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - much more than I'd anticipated. At first the narrator didn't "sound" enough like Julia for me, but it quickly didn't matter at all. The story of Julia's life was engaging and I couldn't wait to get moments to listen to more. Highly recommend this book!

I enjoy Julia on many levels!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

She reminds me very much of my aunt. Both were unusually tall for their time and both forged their own successful paths through a man's world. I think "My Life in France" is much more personal and enjoyable but this filled in a lot of spaces.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoy and relate to her joie de vivre. Sometimes we just plod into life head on without a lot of reasoning. Julia's positive outlook on life is very enviable.

Which scene was your favorite?

Not so much a scene as how she fashioned a new life for herself, especially when Paul started to "slip off the raft". I can only hope to be as involved and active into my 90's.

Any additional comments?

If you want to know her life story this is the book but if you want to know her read "My Life in France".

a bit long but endearing

the book was very long and went into a bit too much detail, however it is worth sticking with to understand the personality and humor of this iconoclastic woman. born into wealth and privilege, Julia Child led a fascinating life, having worked for the US foreign office in world war two in risky postings in ceylon and china. lacking direction in her life, she married a colleague and began the adventure as the wife of a foreign service officer which took her to France, Germany and Norway. in France she studied French cooking to which she dedicated her life. she was an early pioneer of educational television and a natural at it. she never accepted endorsements and did what she wanted on the television sometimes in disregard of popular norms or censors. one of the most interesting things about the book was the author's citing instances of her humor, which have long been forgotten by the viewer of her shows so many years ago. one ends up loving and admiring the woman for her courage and work ethic.

Looked forward to each listening session

The narrator's French was impeccable! Fascinating and thorough details of Julia's life, including the evolution of the culinary trends in the US, often with the mentorship and support of Julia. I adored her personality.

Thorough and Detailed

Having only read "Julie and Julia" and "As Always, Julia," this was my first full biography of Julia Child. I loved it. It was very detailed and covered her entire life, and I feel like I have a much better idea of who Julia was as a person rather than who she was as a persona.

I also enjoyed the narrative by Kimberly Farr, and while the book was long, I never found it boring.

Nice Addition to Julia Repertoire

Would you listen to Dearie again? Why?

Nope. It was good, but I've read a lot about Mrs. Child already and this was fairly long.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dearie?

Nothing stands out. As I said, it was long.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Even if you love Julia, her voice grates on you after a dozen hours-- and so does the narrator's impression of her. But really very well done.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Of course not. No one who has a life can do that. Check the length.

Great book

Great book about Julia Child, her relatonship with family and her husband. She was a great cook.

great insignts

What made the experience of listening to Dearie the most enjoyable?

providing an insiders view into the development of the woman who became the beloved.Julia Child

Delicious read

Some of the content overlaps, of course, with that of her autobiography “My life in France” (which I had finished right before tackling “Dearie”), but this book covers her whole life and makes for a fairly delicious read, in my humble opinion.