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This book doesn't evoke hunger, or foodie delight. It's a semi-abashed (because he's traveling with a camera crew, and has to cooperate) account of him going around the world seeking food without often finding it.This is not a terrible book. It just doesn't measure up to the standards set by any other foodie book I've ever encountered.Pick another at random and you'll have a more enjoyable and more educational read. If you already have this book, read it once and then (you will anyway) give it away and move on to a different author.
I have maybe 1/4 of the book left and I'm not inclinded to pick it up anymore. I guess that is to be expected, but it really got less interesting.
I couldn't wait to get this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of it, although some of the slaughter descriptions were a bit disturbing (I love animals).
I am a big Anthony Bourdain fan. Each chapter seemed pretty much like the chapter before.
There were some truly moving chapters in there and some very interesting stuff. However, it really started to slow down after a while.
And the descriptions of animals being slaughtered started to get to me after a while. Felt like he was just trying to fill pages for some of the chapters.
Bourdain is one interesting fellow, a real scamp; and he can write, too. and that's because in print, versus video, the ever-fascinating "bad boy" we've grown to know and love (well, tolerate; nah, love) doesn't interrupt an otherwise well-crafted exposition on the country he's visiting to "pull a Fellini" (but much less artfully) and digress into all sorts of asides, semi-charming castigations and "they made me do it." aspersions that many times weaken the overall flow of his television series. . His love affair with the Vietnamese people and their cuisine jumps off the page at you, his reverence for the French Laundry almost requires you to light votive candles, and his graphic explanation of preparing a farmhouse meal in Portugal may make you turn vegan. Here, Bourdain has the sense to focus almost exclusively on the landscape, the flavors, his hosts and his (extraordinarily wide ranging) reactions and leave the "inside" commentary to extended postscripts at the end of certain stories. And when Bourdain does mention his "shooter" or producer in the body of a given chapter, it's woven more appropriately into the narrative than on cable. He can also elicit a solid series of belly laughs when the situation demands; his description of writhing intestinal misery as he grapples for the remote to nix a televised homage to Jerry Lewis during a return to France had me howling.The best way to savor this one-of-a-kind culinary globetrotter is to watch the show, pick up the rascal's collection of grimaces, smirks, cigarette drags, loping marches down alleyways and "I'm almost high" style of voiceover, then turn off the set and start reading. Because his books - if "A Cook's Tour" is any indication - are better than his broadcasts.
I liked reading about what went on on the other side of the camera and that some of the feasts and locations were not his choices. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Anthony Bourdain's irresistible writing style. I was surprised that a star of a television show was flying coach class to Asia. Friendly--not flowery or snobby. I guess I'm one of very few who found it much more entertaining than Kitchen Confidential. Could that be true. I do know that the average tourist or even a very wealthy one would never be able to duplicate some of the special attention and exquisite meals he was served--especially in Japan.
This was a great, relaxing read. All the joys of a food trip (without the physical flavours and the life-and-death risks) without all the costs of an around-the-world trek. The great adventures of this chef can only inspire you to go find your own perfect meal.
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