I read this book after I heard Anthony Bourdain on the WTF podcast. I would call it a work memoir. It talks of Bourdain's entry into the world of adventurous eating and how that parlayed into him eventually becoming a chef. It's a very entertaining book, and it is also educational. The title is apt. Through reading this book, I do feel that reader really does get a sense of what it would be like to be a chef and what goes on in the kitchen. Some of it is inspiring. The amount of detail that one has to consider, the knowledge, precision, and sheer work that goes into being a chef was spelled out in very believable details. Some of it made me think about the nature of brilliance, and how it is often found in the eccentrics, the rebels, the square pegs of the world. There were words of the wise to the consumer. Never order fish on Monday, as that is the last date it can be used before being thrown out. Be wary of the specials, again, often designed with the idea of what leftover food needs to be used.
At the end of the book, Bourdain explains that the chapters were originally a series of separate pieces, and I would have to say that it did read that way. One thing that I missed about this book was a unifying drive from beginning to end. There were certainly great moments, and I enjoyed the read, but I wanted one great, big through-line that would build upon each other to tell the tale of this chef's work. That would have made this book complete for me.
