Author: Frances Katz

Julia Child's Kitchen
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Communists and Cassoulet: Julia Child on Dried Herbs, Dull Knives and Joseph McCarthy

If Julia Child and Avis deVoto were here today, they’d be great Facebook friends. Julia and Avis bonded over food—buying it, cooking it and eating it. But since they were without technology, they wrote letters, which Joan Reardon collected into a book titled As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto.

holly-golightly

The Two Holly Golightlys

Sometimes a movie is adapted from a well-known novel that entirely eclipses the original material. Characters and plot points get rewritten then cast with A-list stars to take on a life of its own completely apart from the book. The result is two similar but separate works that each have their own legions of fans. The iconic 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s based on the 1958 novella by Truman Capote could be one of the best examples of this type of split.

Harry Potter book on a shelf

Books and Cleverness: Hermione Granger and the Glass Ceiling

We must thank Hermione Granger for the new trio of e-books from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling available for download on September 6. The books are called Short Stories from Hogwarts and provide a user’s manual for poltergeists, politics, heroes and even a guide (although unreliable) to the venerable Hogwarts itself.