No Reservations. And no novel structure, but still good.

I have been a Bourdain fan for a while and really enjoyed Kitchen Confidential so when I came across this book for less than $2, and had an upcoming vacation, I snagged it because I thought it would be a good vacay read, and I was validated, though I wouldn’t say the book was a total success.

This novel follows the adventures of Bourdain during his first television series of the same name and we travel with him to exotic locales, and even more exotic dishes. Some of his schtick has lost his luster, as I have seen his “shock jock cook” persona in many iterations of the shows he has had since, but it has been a while since I watched him on TV so for me this read was a revisit to the Bourdain I know and love.

My biggest complaint was the structure of the novel: he bopped around locale, sometimes back and forth to the same location with chapters in between, which was a nuisance. I found myself either skimming through parts that just couldn’t capture my interest, or putting this book down for a bit and picking up another before continuing on.

Also, he has some VERY strong opinions on certain countries/political conflicts (Vietnam for one) and his soapbox grew a little tiresome. I like Bourdain the most when he is showing us behind the curtain of places I haven’t been, people I haven’t met, and food I haven’t eaten, not when he is cramming in an inflammatory political opinion.

Overall if you like Bourdain, you will probably like this book, though if you have followed his career pretty closely, it may just be retreading things you already know.