Mastering the Art of French Eating

Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris

De: Ann Mah

Narrado por: Mozhan Marnò

Duración: 8 h y 58 m

Resumen del Editor

The memoir of a young diplomat's wife who must reinvent her dream of living in Paris - one dish at a time.

When journalist Ann Mah's diplomat husband is given a three-year assignment in Paris, Ann is overjoyed. A lifelong foodie and Francophile, she immediately begins plotting gastronomic adventures à deux. Then her husband is called away to Iraq on a year-long post - alone. Suddenly, Ann's vision of a romantic sojourn in the City of Light is turned upside down.

So, not unlike another diplomatic wife, Julia Child, Ann must find a life for herself in a new city. Journeying through Paris and the surrounding regions of France, Ann combats her loneliness by seeking out the perfect pain au chocolat and learning the way the andouillette sausage is really made. She explores the history and taste of everything from boeuf Bourguignon to soupe au pistou to the crispiest of buckwheat crepes. And somewhere between Paris and the south of France, she uncovers a few of life's truths.

Like Sarah Turnbull's Almost French and Julie Powell's New York Times best seller Julie and Julia, Mastering the Art of French Eating is interwoven with the lively characters Ann meets and the traditional recipes she samples. Both funny and intelligent, this is a story about love - of food, family, and France.

©2013 Ann Mah (P)2013 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Mastering the Art of French Eating makes you want to be in Paris as [Mah] describes the delight of crusty baguettes spread with butter and jam, surprise glimpses of Notre Dame caught from the bus, nursing a glass of red wine in a cafe that has mirrored columns and a zinc bar...the book has appealing honesty and vulnerability, overlaid as it is with the pain of her husband's absence. It will also make you very hungry." (Wall Street Journal)

"Mah admirably fits her research into easily digested bites, the reader’s enthusiasm mirroring her own." (The New York Times Book Review)

"A well-written entrée into French dining." (The Daily Beast)

Delightful!

I loved the descriptions of food, of France and of a young marriage. What a gift!

Wonderful

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found the narration especially enjoyable. It really added to the story because I could audibly enjoy the French without destroying pronunciation in my head.

Great!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved all of the descriptions of the food and learning about different regions of France through her story

Needs a PDF

Why isn't there a PDF of the recipes?????

Well-written overall. Interesting read. Made me think differently about a lot of things--like my relationship with food. I'm not as much of a foodie as people think I am. I don't love or think nearly as much as Ann Mah! =) She is INTO it. Illuminating slice of her life. Great memoir.

Belle!

As one that is about to venture to the City of Lights for Christmas, this was a sweet find to wet my appetite for the truly Parisian experience!

Art Life French

Beautiful overview of the different regions in France and a sampling of the different recipes and specific cultural take on favorite dishes of each region. Loved the author’s style and biography of her time in France. The narration was impeccably done. Highly recommend this book to francophones and to those who love France!

Great book for people who appreciate food!

Well written and entertaining for people who appreciate great food. If you don’t then listen to something else.

Immersed!

We just returned from Paris & Beaune so I felt immersed in her travels and stories about the area. Great to hear about the background of all the dishes and the recipes should I try. I only wish I had listened before we traveled. Exceptional author as I’ve been checking out her other books.

uhhg what a waste of a credit

Boring boring boring. Couldn't finish it. Unoriginal. Riding the coattails of Julia Child with nothing new to add to the conversation.

Enough with the Whining

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I can't imagine anyone enjoying this other than the author herself. Enough with the whining, moping, and so on. This incessant complaining, moping, whining about her loneliness after separation from her husband because of job reasons can be of interest to no one. Do we want to read how she's so bored she spends her mornings wasting her time on Facebook or Skyping with her husband? If she'd stuck to the other parts of the story about foods and travels and so on this would have been an okay read (it's kind of dull and humorless even then), but as it reads now it's just like reading her diary entries and little else.

What could Ann Mah have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Written with more life and humor and cut out all the ENDLESS, repetitive personal stuff about her marriage and loneliness and boredom. If she's bored, we're even more bored.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Mozhan Marno?

The narrator wasn't the problem here, it was the author (and really the author's editor).

What character would you cut from Mastering the Art of French Eating?

Not applicable.

Any additional comments?

I tried. I really did. But this was just terribly, terribly unengaging. Every time I was interested in the subject of a chapter I found myself getting frustrated with the incessant droning on and on (and on and on) about how miserable the author was.