Thursday, March 10, 2011

Five best foodie memoirs

At The Daily Beast, Tien Nguyen recommended five addictive books by cooks, including:
Julia Child's My Life in France

The bubbly chef was what one would call a late bloomer: It was not until her late thirties that Julia Child discovered her desire to eat and to cook. She then enrolled as a student at France's Le Cordon Bleu, and it was her great gift to herself (and us) that she was not intimidated by the school's overly strict headmaster, or her predominantly male classmates. If anything, these obstacles strengthened her resolve to surpass her own expectations. My Life in France details Julia's life-changing years in the country, from flunking the culinary school's notoriously difficult final exam to the often frustrating process of co-writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking. For the cook looking for inspiration—nay, for anyone who thinks it may be too late to answer their true calling—this memoir is an inspiration.
Read about another memoir on the list.

My Life in France also appears on Richard Lacayo and Lev Grossman's list of five memoirs worth reading.

Pamela Redmond Satran called My Life in France "unexpectedly transporting as the tale of a middle-aged woman’s discovery of herself, of her true calling, and of ambition."

--Marshal Zeringue