Reading Response to "Good Cooking"

            As I read “Good Cooking,” the constant thought going through my mind was “Yes!  This is the kind of person I want to be!”  I felt this way because of Julia Child’s modesty, her honesty, and her humor.  But for me, the main aspect of Julia Child’s character that made her as appealing as the meals that she cooked was the humbling way she realized her passions.

            The way in which Julia Child followed her passion of cooking is extremely refreshing to me.  There have been many times where I have felt extremely intimidated by people who have known what their passions were since they were 5 years old.  Julia sort of fell into cooking while living in France and that is when she realized it was what she loved to do.  I kept rereading the line: “Until I got into cooking…I was never really interested in anything,” (Tomkins 131).   It is like she has this epiphany and all of a sudden her life was changed.  She didn’t pretend to know what she wanted in life since she was born, she just followed the road life was leading her on and once she landed on cooking, that is when she knew what she needed to do.

            Along the same vein, I loved the way this story portrayed Julia as such an endearing human being.  I think oftentimes when we are intrigued by art, we look at it as an isolated entity brought into the world of its own fruition, not as an entity attached to its creator.  Whether visual, theatrical, whatever art form it may be, I believe a work of art in some way reflects its creator.  People did not buy Mastering the Art of French Cooking only due to its exquisite recipes but because they loved the person behind those recipes.  When she dropped the dish she had spent so long making in front of an entire audience, it did not make them view Julia as less of a chef, it made her seem like an actual human being instead of this idol we often view artists as.  By following her example I believe we can make art more meaningful.  Being able to convey such a sentiment and inspire me as a reader in such a short reading reflects how genius both Julia Child and the author, Calvin Tomkins, are.

            What I gathered from this reading is that Julia Child was not just a chef.  She was an entertainer.  She was a visionary.  She was a teacher.  She was a human being.  She is not iconic because she cooked to perfection; she is iconic because of her imperfections.  We admire her because we are in awe of her self-assurance.  I may not want to pursue a career as a chef, but whatever I choose to be I hope to follow in her footsteps, bringing my humanness and personality to what it is I create.