| Bourdain tells all about the events in France during his youth that led to his becoming a chef, the three types of people who become professional cooks, and the things that make the lifestyle at times difficult, unique, challenging, grueling, intense, and incredible. He tells of his early fascination with food, eventual education at the Culinary Institute of America, and working his way up from dishwasher to Executive Chef of Les Halles in NYC. Along the way he takes jobs in Provincetown, Baltimore and Tokyo and gets hooked on drugs.
As he recounts his life story to this point, he dispenses advice on cooking tools to own, what it takes to cook like the pros, when to order certain foods at restaurants (Never get the fish on Monday or mussels ever!), and other pointers. Be warned, this is not a book for your ten-year old budding Emeril to read (Bourdain calls him an fuzzy Ewok). Kitchen Confidential is laced with abundant profanity, graphic sexual imagery, and hardcore drug use. Anthony Bourdain said in 2000 that the things he wrote in his book would never get him his own show on The Food Network. He was wrong, in fact the things he writes about made him a celebrity and in 2003 he got his own show "A Cook's Tour". | ||
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Plot & Themes job/profession: Job/profession/poverty story Yes Phys disability/mental struggle? Yes Struggle with - drugs Food Yes Period of greatest activity? - 1950+ Subject of Biography Gender - Male Profession/status: Ethnicity - White Nationality - American Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast Europe Yes European country: - France Asia/Pacific Yes Asian country: - Japan City? Yes City: - New York - Century: - 1980's-Present Writing Style Book makes you feel? - very happy - like laughing Graphic sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - - actual description of hetero sex Pictures/Illustrations? - None How much dialogue in bio? - significantly more descript than dialog How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 0-25% of book |
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