“… [A] delightful and sprightly backstage look at life with Child”
— Publishers Weekly
“Backstage with Julia is packed with endearing anecdotes”
— The New York Times Book Review
“Who knows at what precise moment in those first few years Julia and I went from being colleagues to friends? I don’t and doubt that she did. But I loved that she was my friend. Prone to foolishness, craving a laugh and a good time, she was a hoot. Forget her age; Julia Child never parted company with the spunky, outrageous Julia McWilliams who led her siblings and childhood friends through one mischievous neighborhood caper after another. She was always the slightly naughty Julia who piled her college friends into a 1929 Ford convertible and hauled them off to a nearby speakeasy; the adventurous Julia who in the midst of World War II, joined the Office of Strategic Services and fearlessly ventured to far-off Ceylon.”
— From Backstage with Julia
Julia Child was, is, and forever will be, an iconic figure in American gastronomy – indeed in American culture. While several books have chronicled her life, now comes a fascinating memoir that delves into the soul of a truly remarkable woman.
Nancy Verde Barr was Julia Child’s Executive Chef and close personal friend for 24 years, and now she sheds new light on the personality behind America’s most beloved chef in her intimate portrait, BACKSTAGE WITH JULIA: My Years with Julia Child (Wiley paperback; $14.95; May 2008). In this memoir, Nancy shares fond reminiscences of her time with Julia, from prepping for cooking demonstrations to vacationing together in Italy.
All throughout her life, Julia was inexhaustible, motivated, inspiring, intriguing, unflappable, adventurous, and often mischievous, and yet she remained completely unassuming despite all her fame. These traits are illustrated in wonderfully compelling story after story in Backstage with Julia.
For more than two decades, Nancy worked behind the scenes with Julia (and sometimes not so behind the scenes) on live cooking demonstrations, TV show appearances (from Good Morning America to David Letterman), and monthly features in Parade Magazine. She was a food producer for series like Baking at Julia’s and assisted Julia with the writing of two cookbooks. But as you’ll see, these reminiscences go far beyond their working relationship. Nancy shows us a side of Julia that quite literally, almost no one else ever could.
Brimming with stories, anecdotes, personal photographs, notes, and letters, Backstage with Julia captures the essence of Julia Child — her generosity, her humor, her high spirits, and her openness to new ideas. It’s a loving portrait of a woman who changed the way Americans thought about food and brightened the lives of everyone who knew her. Backstage with Julia is a must-have summer read for every Julia Child fan.
About the Author: Nancy Verde Barr
Nancy Verde Barr worked with Julia Child for eighteen years on her TV shows, cookbooks, and articles. She is the author of one novel and two cookbooks – Make It Italian, a James Beard Award finalist, and We Call It Macaroni, a finalist for both the IACP and James Beard Awards. Barr has published numerous articles in Gourmet, Food and Wine, Bon Appétit, Cook’s Magazine, and Fine Cooking and was the culinary producer at Good Morning America (ABC) for their weekly food segments for ten years.
About Wiley
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., provides must-have content and services to customers worldwide. Its core businesses include scientific, technical, and medical journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional and consumer books and subscription services; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley has publishing, marketing, and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb. For more information about Wiley, visit www.wiley.com.
| For more information, contact: Gypsy Lovett 201.748.5627 glovett@wiley.com |
Backstage with Julia: My Years with Julia Child By Nancy Verde Barr Wiley; April 2008; $14.95 978-0-470-27637-2; Paper  |
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