Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noël Riley Fitch; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Nadia May

A household name, Julia Child has entered the hearts of millions of Americans through their kitchens. Yet few know the richly varied private life that lies behind this icon. Fitch takes us from her exuberant youth through her years at Smith College, where Julia was at the center of every prank and party. When most of her girlfriends married, Julia volunteered with the OSS during World War II and was an integral part of the elite corps. There she met her future husband, Paul Child, who introduced her to the glories of fine French cuisine, art, and love.

Julia invested ten years of learning and experimentation in what would become her first best-selling classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Now her career is legend, spanning nearly forty years and still going strong. Hers is a truly American life.

“Nadia May's lively reading brings the world of Julia Child—'the French Chef'—to life…Her zest for her subject, as well as her subject's engaging life, keeps the listener engrossed and satisfied as she artfully mimics Julia's high, shrill voice and maintains an even pace throughout.”—AudioFile

“Moving from privileged youth to OSS operative to Eliza Doolittle to her husband’s Henry Higgins to chef extraordinaire, the biography of Julie Child reveals far more than the woman who brought haute cuisine to the burbs.”—Booklist

Noël Riley Fitch is the author of Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation: A History of Literary Paris in the Twenties and Thirties and Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs Nin, as well as other books chronicling the French-American artistic experience. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles and on the Left Bank in Paris. She has one grown daughter.