as always, julia child

New Book Serves Up a Fresh Side of Julia Child
By DAVE ITZKOFF - NY Times

Julia Child in 1978.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said that it would release a new book called “As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto,” containing nearly 15 years of correspondence between Ms. Child and Ms. DeVoto, the cook and writer who helped land Ms. Child’s original manuscript for “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” at the publisher Alfred A. Knopf.

The letters, written between 1952 and 1965, begin not long after Ms. Child began teaching cooking to American women in Paris, and chronicle her travels across Europe with her husband, as well as the development and publication of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

In excerpts from the letters provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ms. Child writes on such topics as:

The city of Paris:
“Longer I stay, better I like it. I must say, I do love French people, and had no idea they would be as they are. I thought the women would all be tiny little things, too chic for words; and the men pinching everybody and little, too. I was not prepared for this wonderful, earthy, human, sweet, gay naturalness. Cozy is the only word that expresses my feelings.”

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said it would release “As Always, Julia” on Dec. 1. The book will also include commentary by Joan Reardon, the author and food historian.