Noël Riley Fitch

This book had the promise of something much better. It has all the ingredients of what from me would rate a 4 or a 5. The information was there, some of the engaging details were there, but there was far too much other stuff getting in the way to be able to concentrate on Sylvia Beach, an incredible woman who deserves a better biography.

I was familiar with the author, Fitch, having read her book on Julia Child a few years ago. I went back and took a look at what I wrote about that book. I quote myself below so that I don't have to write the exact same thing again because the exact same thing applies here.

"The problem with this book (Appetite for Life, the book about Julia Child) is not Julia's story. The problem is the poor writing (others say bad editing -- but it seems like poor writing to me). All the information is there, but nothing was left out and the information often just reads like a list. Paragraphs do not give you complete thoughts, in fact, sentences often don't follow one from the other so that you have to look back to figure out what the author was trying to say, and finally arrive at the conclusion that there is no way to know.
But finding out about Julia made it all worthwhile. Her passion, her marriage, her friendships, her life, I enjoyed learning about it all."

The same here in the book about Sylvia Beach -- the founder of the lending library and bookshop Shakespeare and Company in Paris; first publisher of James Joyce's Ulysses in English (the book was banned in the U.S. and in Britain); supporter of Joyce in every imaginable way for over a decade; hostess, supporter and good friend to innumerable writers, students, and intellectuals for over forty years; friend and lover of Adrienne Monnier for four decades; protector of German refugees from the French just before the war and Jews from the Germans during it; recipient of the French Legion of Honor -- she was almost lost in interminable lists of names, details that didn't add anything to the subject, sentences that made no sense, and paragraphs that went nowhere.

Although much of the book reads like a list, if you are determined, you are rewarded with anecdotes and great stories and a good sense of what kind of person Beach was. I've added her to my very short list of women heroes. You also learn, in excruciating detail, what a son-of-a-bitch James Joyce was (although Sylvia never said a bad word about him but it does come out in all those details). I think it was worth reading, but, because the subject and information was great but the writing was poor, it didn't rate more than a 3.… (altro)

Julia Child is (was) a far more interesting person than you might ever suspect. Even reading My Life In France doesn't tell you much about the varied and adventurous life she had, nor much of anything about her background.
The problem with this book, however, is not Julia's story. The problem is the poor writing (others say bad editing -- but it seems like poor writing to me). All the information is there, but nothing was left out and the information often just reads like a list. Paragraphs do not give you complete thoughts, in fact, sentences often don't follow one from the other so that you have to look back to figure out what the author was trying to say, and finally arrive at the conclusion that there is no way to know.
But finding out about Julia made it all worthwhile. Her passion, her marriage, her friendships, her life, I enjoyed learning about it all.… (altro)

Just before reading this book I read a history of New York in the 1920's, roughly the same period as this book. That book suggested the changes that took place in the New York of the Roaring Twenties essentially defined modern America. Before me sits a book which in its own way refutes that hypothesis. Literary Paris of the 1920's encompassed characters as diverse as James Joyce, Andre Gide, Ernest Hemingway, composers like Igor Stravinsky (whose biggest works debuted in the decade before actually), and the Surrealists. Modernism graduated in the 1920's in Paris, not New York. The heroine of this book, Syvia Beach, bend over backward to bring Joyce's epic Ulysses, into the world. And being James Joyce's publisher was no picnic, either. Thank goodness for Beach's tireless efforts to promote her literary friends, and lend some of them a helping hand fleeing the Nazi's after the armistice France signed with Germany. Some owed her their lives. I've walked by the book store in Paris that bears the name of her original shop, Shakespeare & Company. I'm glad I know so much more about the amazing woman who created the original store.… (altro)

A delightful look at the life of one of America's greatest cooks, Julia Child. The title of the book is an apt one, as Julia lived a rich, full life, just like her cooking. After attending Smith College, she began working for the OSS, and was privy to many top secret US intelligence documents. After her marriage to Paul Child, she took up an interest in cooking, which spawned a career.

The book is well-written. For me, the most interesting parts where Julia's time in France, the writing of her first cookbook, and the filming of her first TV series, The French Chef. Anyone with an interest in this larger than life lady will enjoy this book.… (altro)