This was really entertaining - there's such a sense of personality here, a woman who is both interesting and amusing and fun to spend time with. No surprise that her cooking shows - not that I've seen any of them - were so successful, if this is how she comes across. This memoir, food-based of course, is the story of the time she spent in France learning about food. From her first visit when, largely indifferent to fish, she had a transformative experience with sole meunière, through taking cooking lessons in Paris, to the ongoing slog that produced the monumental cookbook that made her famous, Child's enthusiasm for food is both constant and immensely appealing. This is what food should be like - something enjoyable and absorbing. There are no recipes here, though there are a number of things I'd like to try, so one day I'll have to get a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking myself... but in no universe whatsoever will I be crushing duck carcass for sauce. I don't care how good she thinks it is.