num_pages: 432
description: With her outsize personality Julia Child is known by her first name alone. But how much do we really know of the inner Julia? Now more than 200 letters exchanged between Julia and Avis DeVoto her friend and unofficial literary agent memorably introduced in the hit movie Julie &amp; Julia open the window on her deepest thoughts and feelings.This riveting correspondence chronicles the blossoming of a unique and lifelong friendship between the two women and the turbulent process of Julia's creation of Mastering the Art of French Cooking one of the most influential cookbooks ever written. Bawdy funny exuberant and occasionally agonized these letters show Julia first as a new bride in Paris then becoming increasingly worldly and adventuresome as she follows her diplomat husband in his postings to Nice Germany and Norway. With commentary by food historian Joan Reardon and covering topics as diverse as the lack of good wine in the United States McCarthyism and sexual mores these letters show America on the verge of political social and gastronomic transformation.An absorbing portrait of an unexpected friendship.--Entertainment WeeklyTwo housewives each in her 40s ... let rip about all kinds of things from shallots beurre blanc and the misery of dried herbs to politics aging and sex ... Funny and forthright opinions about food and life.--The New York Times
language: English
title: As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto
publisher: Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt