The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food
by Judith Jones
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Book Reviews of The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food
Book Review: Very nice memoir. Lots of Cooking, Little Fire
Summary: 4 Stars
`The Tenth Muse' by book editor extraordinaire, Judith Jones is a memoir of her experiences with food and with writers about food, lead by virtually every luminary in that field in the latter half of the 20th century, including Julia Child, James Beard, Craig Claiborne, Marcella Hazan, Madhur Jaffrey, Lydia Bastianich, Marian Cunningham,Alice Waters, and Edna Lewis. I'm just a bit surprised that Penelope Casas, a major Knopf culinary author is not mentioned and I'm torn between believing that the muse of the title is `food' or `editing', especially since Ms. Jones' publishing house, Alfred A. Knopf, was the publishing home of another, even more prominent literary editor, H. L. Mencken. The original nine muses of Greek mythology primarily cover the subjects of music, poetry, drama, and rhetoric, so I suspect `editing' was covered. Thus, Ms. Jones can dedicate her book to the culinary deities.
This is clearly a charming and finely written memoir, which I am almost ashamed to find any fault whatsoever. But, if you are willing to plunk down your $24.95 retail, you are entitled to know what you are getting, and what you are not getting.
For starters, Ms. Jones enters a field filled with lots of fine exemplars of good, interesting culinary memoirs. Leading the pack is that hoary classic by George Orwell, `Down and Out in Paris and London'. Following closely behind and even more relevant, are the several memoirs written by M. F. K. Fisher about her travels in France. More recently, there are the three excellent volumes from `Gourmet' magazine editor in chief, Ruth Reichl, including `Garlic and Sapphires', `Tender at the Bone', and `Comfort Me With Apples'. Then, there is Jacques Pepin's `The Apprentice', Amanda Hesser's `Cooking for Mr. Latte' and the risqué `Insatiable', a collection of anecdotal memoirs by Ms. Gael Greene. Last, but certainly not least is Julia Child's own posthumous memoir, `My Life in France'. All of these books are thoroughly enjoyable for the foodie reader, and most are seem to be just a bit more substantial or more informative than Ms. Jones' book.
I was expecting far more detail on the inside story about how she came to publish the seminal `Mastering the Art of French Cooking', but there was practically nothing here I did not read in Ms. Child's biography and other writings on this episode. I was especially interested in the dealings with Alfred and Blanche Knopf, two giant figures in American publishing, who were initially a bit reluctant to get Knopf into the cookbook publishing business.
The framework on which the culinary stories are arranged is Ms. Jones early experiences in France and her marriage to journalist, Evan Jones and their lives in Europe and New England. There is nothing approaching the intimate interpersonal details we get from both Reichl and Greene. There is not even the sense of warmth felt between Julia and Paul Child in her memoir and biography.
The last quarter of the book is devoted to recipes and stories surrounding those recipes, collected from the many culinary / literary luminaries who Ms. Jones edited or simply corresponded or befriended. I usually discount recipes in memoirs, as this is the last place one is likely to look when in search of a particular recipe, even if you remember that this work contained recipes. I will make a major exception in the case of this book, as I find the comments among some of the most writing in the book. I was especially attracted to the recipe I tried for sauce gribiche, a superb condiment to enliven leftover roasted meats, specifically my favorite lamb. And, the fact that the book contained eight other recipes for lamb warmed me to these recipes.
Thus, if one has read many of the books I mentioned above, especially those telling the story of Julia Child, one may not find anything too exciting here. And, if you own several cookbooks you know and love, the recipes will be nice to read, but you may not find anything dramatic enough to lure you away from your favorites. It's a very nice read, but not as informative, titillating, or illuminating as some of its contemporary works.
Book Review: Delicious prose
Summary: 5 Stars
Judith Jones tells the story of her life's passion with cooking, which includes editing the cookbooks of legendary cooks such as Julia Child, Madhur Jaffrey, Marion Cunningham and Lidia Bastianich. Her tale begins with an anecdote that illuminates her mother's attitude toward food. Jones's elderly mother asked her to give her an honest answer about something important. Jones expected a larger topic than her mother's rather surprising question: "Tell me, Judith, do you really like garlic?" After admitting that she loved garlic, Jones's mother appeared thoroughly disheartened.
As a young girl, not only was garlic banned from the house, but onions could be used only when a particular stew was being prepared by the cook. The family did not eat adventurously, although the family cook did turn out some wonderful, homey "plain food"-type dishes (the descriptions of which might possibly make readers drool upon the book). In the winter, their produce consisted of "overgrown root vegetables," potatoes and cabbage. Yet young Judith managed to be a bit of a foodie, requesting not only a spaghetti and cheese dish but also artichokes for special lunches.
During her childhood, Jones delighted in spending time with relatives who loved to cook and with her father who treated her to lunches at a favorite French restaurant. There, she happily nibbled crepes, exotic sauces, onion soup and seafood. As a young teen, Jones delighted in cooking for her father while her mother vacationed. Although her first experiments were less than successful (thanks to broiling, instead of baking, dishes), she was undeterred in her determination to become a good cook. However, her joy in eating was sadly curbed by female relatives discussing her plumpness. While she was soon snacking on carrots, eventually Jones learned to balance her love of good food with a bit of discipline.
Jones began working at Doubleday in New York when she graduated from college. But she dreamed of Paris. Happily, she was able to leave her job to travel there, where she found not only luscious meals to devour but also food-loving friends who were thrilled to educate her in food and cooking. When her traveling companion returned to New York, Jones decided to stay on in an inexpensive hotel. She could only afford one meal a day, so she made that meal an adventure, experiencing delicacies such as veal brains. Her escapades in France included losing every penny she owned, opening an informal restaurant with a friend and meeting her husband, Evan, who enjoyed food and cooking as much as she did. When she worked for Doubleday in Paris, she discovered the French edition of ANNE FRANK: THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL, which she urgently (and successfully) recommended Doubleday publish.
Jones and her husband returned to New York eventually, where they were frustrated by the lack of quality ingredients in markets but persevered in their cooking adventures. She went to work as an editor for Knopf, where she discovered Julia Child, publishing her classic cookbook, MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING. Then, she went on to publish the work of many fine chefs, as well as to write cookbooks with her husband.
Jones's story is a gripping, well-paced page-turner filled with an infectious passion for food and cooking. Her own life is fascinating, and she brings legends such as James Beard, Craig Claiborne, Julia Child and many more to life through descriptions of their appearance and quirky personalities during her collaborations with them. Of course, the heart of the book is Jones's philosophy and respect for fabulous food, which she describes in luscious detail, sharing many of her favorite recipes. Reading her delicious prose should turn any reader into a more discerning eater and adventurous cook.
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
Book Review: NEEDED MUCH MORE SALT & PEPPER
Summary: 2 Stars
MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT. EVERYTHING THAT THE JONES- JULIA /JONES -HAZAN JONES- BASTIANCH FORMULA DID RIGHT IS MISSING. WHO CARES ABOUT A RATHER BORING BACK OF THE SHOP EDITOR'S OWN BORING LIFE? WHAT WE NEEDED WAS THE REAL SCOOP ON HOW THESE MAJOR EVENTS IN AMERICAN PUBLISHING WERE REALIZED.
IN FACT THIS BOOK WOULD HAVE BENEFITED GREATLY BY A SEVERE WOODSHED SESSION WITH A TOP NOTCH EDITOR WHO TOLD THE TRUTH AND INSISTED ON REVISION TO ADD THE MANY INGREDIENTS HERE SADLY MISSING.
THE FEW ANECDOTES ARE ALSO MARRED BY PEDESTRIAL WRITING. THIS PROVES THAT A GOOD EDITOR CAN BE A LOUSY WRITER, AND MANY ARE REALLY DULL AND UNCREATIVE.
PAGES OF RECEIPES ADD NOTHING TO THE FLAVOR. WITH ABOUT 88 GAZILLION BOOKS AND INTERNET RECEIPES IN EASY REACH, IT IS TECHNIQUE -AND FINDING GOOD PRODUCTS- AND LAYERING FLAVORS, WITHIN A SHORT PREP AND HEATING TIME FOR THE BUSY AMATEUR OR BEGINNER HOME COOK THAT IS MISSING FROM ALL THESE SECOND LEVEL AND COFFEE BOOK CULINARY MATERIALS THAT ARE NICE TO LOOK AT FOR 5 MINUTES AND THEN STORE AWAY AND NEVER USE AGAIN.
COMPARE BORDAIN, WITH ALL HIS VULGARITY AND ADMITTED PERSONAL FLAWS, WITH THIS LIFELESS HALF EFFORT. OR LOOK AT THE ALMOST IGNORED BUT REALLY USEFUL RAO'S COOKBOOK BY "FRANKIE NO"-SIMPLE, QUICK, DELICIOUS STUFF USING EASILY AVAILABLE PRODUCT AND AUTHENTIC STUFF, IN A NICE PACKAGE OF NOSTALGIA. DOES JONES REALLY GIVE US THE FLAVOR OF THE POST WWII PARIS SHE LOVED? NO. TOO MUCH OF HUBBY DEAR AND NOT ENOUGH CLOSERIE DE LILAS.
NO SPARKLE. UNDERDONE, WITHOUT ENOUGH SPICES.
SAVE YOUR MONEY. BUY JOHN THORNE OR EVEN THE ALSO VULGAR BUT LIVELY MAN WHO ATE EVERYTHING. AND LASTLY, DONT BE FOOLED BY THE CELEBRITY NAMES WHO LENT THEIR ENDORSEMENTS TO SOME PUFF PARAGRAPHS WRITTEN BY A NAMELESS BACK OFFICE PUBLICITY DEPT. GARTEN, MEYER ETC WOULD PROBABLY ENDORSE USED POTATO PEELINGS IF THAT PUT THEIR NAME INTO ASSOCIATION WITH ANOTHER FOODIE'S BOOKS, OR KEEP SOME TENUOUS ADVANTAGE WITH A POSSIBLE PUBLISHER OF THEIR NEXT GRIND EM OUT FOOD BOOK. IN SHORT, THIS PADDED BOOKLET LACKS FLAVOR.
Book Review: Part memoir, part travelogue, part cookbook
Summary: 4 Stars
The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food belongs on your shelf with Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun and Bill Buford's Heat. It will awaken your senses and make you long for a crusty bread, an artisan cheese and a fresh peach.
Author Judith Jones is a longtime editor at publisher Alfred A. Knopf Inc. and a lifetime epicurean. It would be a mistake to dismiss Jones as "just a cookbook editor," even though her authors include Julia Child, Marion Cunningham, and Lidia Bastianich. She's responsible for publishing The Diary of Anne Frank, and she edited the work of Anne Tyler and John Updike, among others.
It's apparent that her two loves, great literature and food, converged in a special way when she worked with Child and the other chefs. Jones gives her readers a glimpse into how she brings a cookbook to life as well as how she coaches a cook into a writer. Giving each chef a unique culinary viewpoint with the food and a unique voice as a writer was Jones' primary focus.
Starting with a childhood of bland English and New England fare, Jones recounts how she was born wanting more. More flavor, more variety, more goodness. After college and WWII she lived in Paris for several years where she met her late husband Evan Jones. Together they explored the food of different cultures and brought the best of it home to New York, then Vermont. They also excelled at finding the best local food available.
Personal details are sparse. Readers craving gossip about why she and Evan never had children or whether their relationship played a part in his divorce will be disappointed. But foodies who want to know if she really ate beaver liver and tail will get their answer.
Jones concludes the book with recipes from childhood, later discoveries including French and Asian favorites, and her newest passion: cooking for one. Pictures of Jones, her husband, and many of her authors are sprinkled throughout.
The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food is part memoir, part travelogue, part cookbook and is easily more than the sum of its parts.
Armchair Interviews agree
Book Review: Surprisingly dull - a disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
I am so glad to see that some others felt the same way I did about this book. After all the praise lavished on it, I was eager to read this. I was surprised to be so disappointed. It's not that she lived a dull life, surely, but this is an awfully boring and uninspiring version of it. I collect cookbooks but even still, I had to google some of the authors she name dropped. I'd never heard of them, and it's clear she assumed they were so famous that she did not have to put their relevance into any context. The bits about Julia Child are the shining moments, but they're fleeting.
I wanted her to open up, share something intimate. I wanted her to seem human and inperfect, especially since I couldn't relate to her privileged life at all, from her upbringing in a wealthy home with servants to the casual purchase of a large second home in Vermont. She always felt remote. I was surprised how she glossed over the fact that she lived with a married/separated man in the days that sort of thing wasn't done. I'd like to have seen more about her feelings about that, how her family felt, something. About halfway through, this falls into a pattern of "I worked with this writer, I made her book better this way," and "I worked with this writer, we edited her book in her kitchen."
I missed the story and narrative that you find in so many food memoirs, such as in Ruth Reichl's books, notably Tender to the Bone. I still have a lot of respect for Ms. Jones, even if I wasn't crazy about her book.