Monday, September 14, 2009

Memoir Monday ~ A Book Review

ProfusionzinnasJuly06
Instead of an assignment today, I'm doing a review of "My Life In France" by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme.

Why a book review? Because this is one of the best memoirs I've read recently. It was built and written from collections of letters, journal entries, and photographs saved by members of the family. Exactly the type of writing I'm urging you to do each Monday.

From what I understand, Julia Child's grand-nephew, Alex Prud'Homme would read aloud from the saved letters or he and Julia would sort through photos and Julia would tell stories sparked from those memories.

The writing is warm, witty, and engaging. For the writers among us, there are some terrific turns of phrase and lovely language. It is a look into the passionate pursuit of creativity. It's the story of someone who loved life abroad and truly came alive when she found her calling. You'll want to pack up and move to France, roast a duck, or at the very least, you'll be inspired to try something new and challenging. What ever the call, I hope you hear it clearly.

If you loved Meryl Streep's Julia Child in the movie, you'll enjoy 'hearing' Julia's true voice through her words and rememberances. This is a good read!

1 Other Creative Souls are Saying:

Cheri (aka "The Mom Lady") said...

I bought the book after buying "Julie and Julia" and I definitely prefer Julia's book. Julie and Julia has too much foul language for my tender soul and that Julie has a mouth that would make a sailor blush a lot. And she's from Austin too! :(

But I'm enjoying Julia's book tremendously and thinking about her expat experiences against my own; different era, different employer, different cities - but still identify greatly!