With a bubbling personality, oversized enthusiasm, and obvious talent and love for cooking, Julia Child almost singlehandedly started a cooking revolution when she burst onto television screens in the 1960s. Before long, Americans inspired by her example began cooking French food at home in droves and truly appreciating the pleasure that preparing good food can provide. Yet Child did not grow up knowing how to cook or even with an interest in fine cuisine. Her story is one of an American woman's quest to find herself, to find her passion, and then to find a way to share that passion with the world. It is the story of how Julia McWilliams of Pasadena, California, transformed herself into Julia Child, "The French Chef.