Hi. Sorry. I really thought I was like 10 reviews behind and it turned out to actually be 19. So then I started up this list of reviews…and didn’t post it…and now I’m 26 behind. I would blame my kids/divorce/life, but really — I’d much rather read than write! Also, I’ve been working from home a lot and doing laundry instead of writing reviews (which is what I do when I get bored at the office), so that’s not helping. Anyway, here’s 26 brief reviews […]
The Book of Things I Like to Eat: Reviewing Anthony Bourdain’s Appetites
Breaking the law, I know, but my first Cannonball review shall be… a cook-book. But before I get accused of cheating and ex-communicated from Cannonball Church, if my plan was to tackle something easy… boy, did I fuck up. I had to cook, savages. I mean, can’t analyze the plot or setting or character development, because, well, there isn’t any. So you have to review the recipes. There is no, “Does the Waygu beef become the man it always wanted to be”, or “Does the […]
No Reservations. And no novel structure, but still good.
I have been a Bourdain fan for a while and really enjoyed Kitchen Confidential so when I came across this book for less than $2, and had an upcoming vacation, I snagged it because I thought it would be a good vacay read, and I was validated, though I wouldn’t say the book was a total success. This novel follows the adventures of Bourdain during his first television series of the same name and we travel with him to exotic locales, and even more exotic […]
A lot of cursing, with some food thrown in
Anthony Bourdain published Kitchen Confidential back in 2000, before he became the mega-hit that he is now. I think at the time, he had published a couple of novels and made a bit of a name for himself as a chef in New York City. Now, of course, he’s on every 5 minutes on the Food Channel — so it’s neat to catch a glimpse of his beginnings. “I’ve long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, […]
Get Read to Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way.
As previously evidenced, I really love Anthony Bourdain. I think he’s an excellent TV personality, a good writer, and by all accounts a decent cook. I read his books out of order, but that didn’t seem to take away from anything. Kitchen Confidential was everything I wanted it to be. Straight-forward (as much as any memoir is, I suppose), lurid, profane, and yet somehow elegant. Bourdain has such a distinctive voice, be in in television or writing, and there’s no question of ghostwriters other autobiographies may raise. […]
A Bourdain Book You’ve Likely Missed
After reading Kitchen Confidential this summer I decided to add all of Anthony Bourdain’s books to my To Read pile. Given my slightly OCD nature I went immediately to Goodreads to figure out which book was next by publication date, not knowing which came first, A Cook’s Tour or Medium Raw (it’s A Cook’s Tour for those equally as worried about these things as I am). While looking for that information I came across another book Bourdain authored. This one wasn’t an autobiographical work and […]