Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (Updated Edition) by Anthony Bourdain

28 reviews

youngluteplayer's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Cursing

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Drug abuse

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

2.5

My son, a bartender, wanted me to read this.  I was not an Anthony Bourdain fan, having never read any of his books, nor watched his shows.  This book didn't make me a fan, either.  

I think I would have liked it if I'd read it in the early 2000s when it was first published.  As a forty-something person, I would have enjoyed this book's rough, vulgar, stream-of-consciousness.  But reading it in 2023 was a different experience.  I found the repeated descriptions of substance abuse, criminal activity, and swearing tiring and boring.  

The book's best parts were the detailed descriptions of what it takes to manage and run a restaurant and the incredible skill and timing of the people working on the line.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Violence, Drug use, Sexism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Cursing, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Vomit

crssmith's review

adventurous dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

kellyofcali's review

challenging dark funny informative inspiring tense medium-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed this book - it's interesting, while I was very aware OF Anthony Bourdain, I don't think I knew much about him, and this is very much him unfiltered (or feels that way) - which both makes you like him more, and less, and feel very sad for what eventually happened to him. It's both a great book for people who love food and restaurants and a terrible one, as it's very honest (and often gross) but the man just loves food.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Addiction, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, and Drug use

Minor: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

emma_ekb's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

4.25

this is a result of my recent anthony bourdain hyperfixation. i learned a lot, laughed a lot. i loved hearing it from bourdain himself. first half was super strong, second half started to drag 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

mandaraffe's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Racism, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Blood, Cursing, Sexism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death and Racial slurs

Minor: Suicide

kumquats87's review

adventurous funny informative fast-paced

4.5

Reading this just reminded me of how much I miss his unique voice.

Also, don’t order the fish on Mondays.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Excrement, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexism

lindsayerin's review

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Sexism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

novella42's review

dark funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Ableism, Drug abuse, Cursing, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual harassment

julied's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Addiction, Cursing, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, and Vomit