Backstage with Julia
My Years with Julia Child
By Nancy Verde Barr
 |
Before the Food Network launched the careers of so many TV chefs, Julia Child had long been the queen of cooking shows with her program “The French Chef” and many others. In her memoir, Backstage with Julia: My Years with Julia Child, Nancy Verde Barr describes what it was like to work alongside the legendary chef as a cookbook collaborator, executive chef for demonstrations, and, eventually, as a friend. Barr describes the intense work and preparation that went on behind the scenes of Child’s guest cooking spots on “Good Morning America,” as well as trips to Italy and France for work and play. Barr also offers a very personal account of her experiences with Child, including the incidental stories that an ordinary biography would leave out–from Julia playfully conducting the Boston Pops orchestra with a giant wooden spoon, to bringing a Champagne and caviar picnic to a friend in the hospital. These stories are accompanied by black-and-white snapshots, copies of handwritten postcards, and even a recipe or two, which makes readers feel as though they are paging through a scrapbook.
The book is a treasure trove of trivia for the true Julia Child enthusiast, though at times it may be a little too exhaustive for the casual reader. Nevertheless, all will come away with a better understanding of the larger-than-life woman who, in Barr’s words, had “an unflagging passion for her work, a relentless curiosity about everything and everyone, and a constant drive to try new things.”
Reviewed by Becky Sauer
|
