Bestselling chef and No Reservations host Anthony Bourdain has never been one to pull punches. In The Nasty Bits, he serves up a well-seasoned hellbroth of candid, often outrageous stories from his worldwide misadventures.
I love him. He's full of himself, macho, rude, socially unacceptable, and sentimental in all the right places. I rarely miss No Reservations, just for the sheer joy of watching him eat things that should never be consumed by an intelligent human being. If anyone can make guinea pig seem like a really good idea for an appetizer, it's Anthony Bourdain.
In some respects, this book is exactly like his television show. He skewers both the snobby foodies and celebrity chefs (as a "cautionary tale" he reminds the reader of the train wreck that is Rocco DiSpirito.) He serves up cutting remarks, insanely funny stories, dead-on observations, and an almost death-defying love of adventure. Through every piece runs the thread of his almost overpowering love of food -- after all, food is his job and his life.
Bourdain's style is brisk throughout and I felt like I was being dragged from China to Singapore to Vietnam with barely a breath in between. These tales of travel are entertaining, but he has caught my attention on more than one occasion with a glimpse of a philosophical viewpoint. Not only did I succeed in finding that quality, but I was left in awe when a nugget of profundity was discovered in an unlikely place.
"Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life -- and travel -- leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks -- on your body or on your heart -- are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt."These moments remind me I'm going through life with blinders on. I'll let them stand as the end of this review, and as a summary of Bourdain's depth as a writer.
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Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (May 16, 2006)
ISBN: 1582344515