Provence, 1970
  • Published: 2 February 2015
  • ISBN: 9780307718358
  • Imprint: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $40.00
Categories:

Provence, 1970

M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste

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Now in paperback, Luke Barr, the grandnephew of M.F.K. Fisher, tells the critically acclaimed story of dramatic friendships and rivalries, when Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and other culinary icons gathered in Provence in 1970 and debated (and unwittingly shaped) the future of food in America.

Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery. Without quite realizing it, they were shaping today’s tastes and culture, the way we eat now. The conversations among this group were chronicled by M.F.K. Fisher in journals and letters—some of which were later discovered by Luke Barr, her great-nephew. In Provence, 1970, he captures this seminal season, set against a stunning backdrop in cinematic scope—complete with gossip, drama, and contemporary relevance.
  • Published: 2 February 2015
  • ISBN: 9780307718358
  • Imprint: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $40.00
Categories:

About the author

Luke Barr

Luke Barr is an editor at Travel + Leisure magazine. A great-nephew of M.F.K. Fisher, he was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Switzerland, and graduated from Harvard. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their two daughters.

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Praise for Provence, 1970

  • "Barr has inherited the clear and inimitable voice of his great-aunt M.F.K. Fisher, and deftly portrays a crucial turning point in the history of food in America with humor, intimacy, and deep perception. Beautifully written and totally fascinating." --Alice Waters

  • "Barr has brought the icons of the food world vibrantly to life and captured the moment when their passion for what's on the plate sparked a cultural breakthrough. His graceful prose provides a thorough, affecting account of their talents and reveals how their disparate personalities defined the very essence of American cuisine." --Bob Spitz

  • "Barr conjures the past and pries open the window on a little-known moment that had profound implications on how we live today. With an insider's access, a detective's curiosity, and a poet's sensitivity, he illuminates a culinary clique that changed the way we eat and how we think about food. Provence, 1970 is a revelation." --Andrew McCarthy

  • "A lovely, shimmering, immersive secret history of an important moment that nobody knew was important at the time." --Kurt Andersen

  • "Brilliant conversation, dimmed lights, culinary intrigue, urchin mousse, a glass of Sauternes. . . One of the most delicious and sensuous books of all time." --Gary Shteyngart