Dispatches From the Field: Joe's Review of Julia's Letters

With her outsize personality, Julia Child is known around the world by her first name alone. But despite that familiarity, 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 & Julia, open the window on Julia’s deepest thoughts and feelings. This riveting correspondence, in print for the first time, 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. Frank, 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 the noted food historian Joan Reardon, and covering topics as diverse as the lack of good wine in the United States, McCarthyism, and sexual mores, these astonishing letters show America on the verge of political, social, and gastronomic transformation.

Joe says:
"Here is another side to Julia Child, in her own words. It all started in 1952, when Julia Child wrote a letter to Harper's columnist, Bernard DeVoto, about an article he wrote on knives. She included a knife in her response. The response letter was not penned by Bernard, but instead by his wife, Avis, who handled his correspondence. And thus started a life-long
friendship through letters. These letters are a surprising and fascinating bunch: the two women wrote about everything from the then-current political climate to the advent of industrialized food to sex. If you've never read a book of letters, this one might be a great place to start, as it provides a new look at a person we thought we knew, and the letters are refreshingly candid, at times funny, and often enlightening. At times, true, they do get a little hum-drum, but that is easily remedied when you move on to the next one, and both Julia and Avis have zingers waiting! For me, along with the comments about the changing food landscape in the United States, was the development of the cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Avis helped Julia get it published, and these letters chart the progress of it,
through doubt and triumph. I highly recommend this excellent new chapter in the amazing life of Julia Child!"