The French Chef in America

Julia Child's Second Act

In this enchanting follow-up to My Life in France—Julia Child’s beloved and best-selling memoir—her co-author and grandnephew, Alex Prud’homme, chronicles Julia’s rise from home cook to the first celebrity chef. While at the beginning of her career Julia’s name was synonymous with French cooking, she fashioned a new identity in the 1970s, reinventing and Americanizing herself. Here we see her dealing with difficult colleagues and the challenges of fame, and ultimately using her newfound celebrity to create what would become a totally new type of food television. The story of a remarkable woman who found her true voice in middle age and profoundly shaped our relationship with food, The French Chef in America is a fascinating look at the second act of a unique culinary icon.