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A review by readordievirgo
A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain
4.0
My rating: 3.8 (rating scale at bottom of review)
The content:
Absolutely amazing (high praise considering I’m vegetarian and suffice it to say Bourdain isn’t). This book makes me want to hop on a plane, travel around the world, and meet the people and taste the food he talks about. Although - his descriptions are so vivid and rich, I feel like I already know how the food tastes.
The writing style:
I struggled with this. It felt almost too fast paced and frenzied to me, to the point where it started to get overwhelming. This works well when he’s describing driving on terrible roads and I feel a lump in my throat reading about the near-misses with terrifying drivers. It doesn’t work so well for me when I was basking in his descriptions of the majesty and peacefulness of unending sand and stars in the desert, and I’m suddenly catapulted on the next page into the very same hair-raising driving experience.
Overall:
I read to see the world through other people’s eyes. This book did exactly that for me, and did a loyal job of chronicling Anthony Bourdain’s voice and spirit.
My rating scale:
5: Loved this book, easily a favorite for me.
4: The book masterfully does exactly what it sets out to do. It’s not a forever favorite of mine, but it’s excellent.
3: It’s nice, I enjoyed reading it. Probably will forget about it tomorrow.
2: It’s alright. Probably wouldn’t mind reading it in the doctor’s waiting room.
1: Absolutely not for me.
The content:
Absolutely amazing (high praise considering I’m vegetarian and suffice it to say Bourdain isn’t). This book makes me want to hop on a plane, travel around the world, and meet the people and taste the food he talks about. Although - his descriptions are so vivid and rich, I feel like I already know how the food tastes.
The writing style:
I struggled with this. It felt almost too fast paced and frenzied to me, to the point where it started to get overwhelming. This works well when he’s describing driving on terrible roads and I feel a lump in my throat reading about the near-misses with terrifying drivers. It doesn’t work so well for me when I was basking in his descriptions of the majesty and peacefulness of unending sand and stars in the desert, and I’m suddenly catapulted on the next page into the very same hair-raising driving experience.
Overall:
I read to see the world through other people’s eyes. This book did exactly that for me, and did a loyal job of chronicling Anthony Bourdain’s voice and spirit.
My rating scale:
5: Loved this book, easily a favorite for me.
4: The book masterfully does exactly what it sets out to do. It’s not a forever favorite of mine, but it’s excellent.
3: It’s nice, I enjoyed reading it. Probably will forget about it tomorrow.
2: It’s alright. Probably wouldn’t mind reading it in the doctor’s waiting room.
1: Absolutely not for me.