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knod78's review
4.0
This was like being the fly on the wall at Bourdain's funeral and/or wake listening to the stories people told about him in a perfectly curated way in a perfect timeline of his life. It helped me see him as a person through the eyes of others. No, he wasn't perfect and no, he wasn't always an angel, but he had his moments of greatness and there are many reasons why he related to us, the regular people. I didn't realize how much his shows started revolutions for so many other shows and networks (although, now, The Travel Channel ONLY plays ghost shows and sometimes museum mysteries). I loved that we saw the vulnerability of him and almost the realness that we could get from people who were with him every day. We see the truth to an extent of the last two tumultuous years of his life before his suicide, and boy, do the storytellers in this book not like Asia Argento at all. Some outright blamed her, but some were realistic, and blamed the situation moreso than her.
My issues were with this amount of stories (like at a funeral or a wake), the stories tend to get repeated and they kind of flow together, getting me confused. This was an advanced copy that I won on Goodreads and it was missing pages like the Appendix with the contributors and I kept forgetting why this person was important. And like with any suicide or depression, everyone now is like, "oh I saw it. I knew." But no one said or did anything. Some tried a little bit, but not much. I've heard that same bullshit before and you know they didn't really do shit. So, it's hard for me to take seriously.
Anyways. If you are fan of Anthony Bourdain, you will absolutely 100% love this book. If you are curious about this man, it's an interesting perspective to read about how he came to be, the middle, the during, the end, the after effects, and everything in between. I learned quite a lot about him tha I never knew. Long live Bourdain!
My issues were with this amount of stories (like at a funeral or a wake), the stories tend to get repeated and they kind of flow together, getting me confused. This was an advanced copy that I won on Goodreads and it was missing pages like the Appendix with the contributors and I kept forgetting why this person was important. And like with any suicide or depression, everyone now is like, "oh I saw it. I knew." But no one said or did anything. Some tried a little bit, but not much. I've heard that same bullshit before and you know they didn't really do shit. So, it's hard for me to take seriously.
Anyways. If you are fan of Anthony Bourdain, you will absolutely 100% love this book. If you are curious about this man, it's an interesting perspective to read about how he came to be, the middle, the during, the end, the after effects, and everything in between. I learned quite a lot about him tha I never knew. Long live Bourdain!
viprholmes's review
emotional
slow-paced
3.5
The man is an interesting subject- the oral biography format is challenging.
bizlet's review
I don't feel comfortable since Bourdain wasn't able to consent to these stories being shared about him. The format was also very difficult to listen to and I knew I wouldn't retain anything I had read by the end and I wasn't connecting to it emotionally.
I imagine this was a way to grieve for everyone involved and I'm happy for that. I'm uncomfortable that they are also profiting from the book.
I imagine this was a way to grieve for everyone involved and I'm happy for that. I'm uncomfortable that they are also profiting from the book.
valdezjs1's review
3.0
This book is an oral history of Tony’s life, spoken by those that knew him. It was interesting to read about the arch of his life from chef to world traveler to journalist. You can really get a feel for what a highly intelligent and gifted person he was. The sections of the book that speak to the last year of his life were the hardest for me to read. It was very sad to see how he changed so quickly. While the book gives you a good sense of who Tony was the stories are very repetitive. It was also a struggle to read and stay engaged. I think this would make a better audio book.
melanna's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
I have a vague idea who this guy is. I’ve never read his books or watched his shows. I’ve read a lot of biographies and memoirs of people I don’t know and often find them fascinating. This one I think was more written for the fans. I didn’t really care. And the style of writing, which is all the people who knew him sharing a couple sentences at a time to build a narrative brought in way too many characters. I hated that. The audio at least made it easier to track since they read their own words.
I think I’ll read his actual book and I’ll like him more but this didn’t do it for me.
I think I’ll read his actual book and I’ll like him more but this didn’t do it for me.
livingdeadmom's review against another edition
Too many different narrators on the audio was hard to follow.