Category Archives: Reference

Rotten Rejections: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle.

“What we envisage as saleable…is perhaps a series of small books devoted to particular portions of the meal…. We also feel that such a series should meet a rigorous standard of simplicity and compactness, certainly less elaborate than your present volumes, which, although we are sure are foolproof, are undeniably demanding in the time and focus of the cook, who is so apt to be a mother, nurse, chauffeur, and cleaner as well.”

“…It is a big, expensive cookbook of elaborate information and might well prove formidable to the American housewife. She might easily clip one of these recipes but be frightened by the book as a whole.”

Excerpted from: Barnard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.