Medium Raw - Anthony Bourdain

Anyone else reading this?

I just finished the book, and I have to say that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Like a lot of people, I've been getting a little tired of Bourdain's schtick. Yes, Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee are terrible, the Food Network sucks, as do Charlie Trotter, Woody Harrelson, and vegans...we get it.

Medium Raw, though, has a great self-deprecating tone on a lot of this stuff. Bourdain recognizes that a lot of his routine has become tiresome. He even goes so far as to tell people to give it a rest with the whole "no fish on Mondays" thing (which has become, IMO, the "foodie" equivalent of the post-Sideways merlot backlash).

I also thought the writing itself was pretty fantastic. The chapter on "Lust" is some of the best (and even arousing) food-writing that I've read in a long time.

Curious to hear others' thoughts.

I turned first to the chapter about Top Chef and enjoyed that, but confess to having skimmed through most of the rest. One thing that disturbed me a little was the way he talks about his former wife. In the past, he's been nothing but gracious about her. In this book, at one point he complains that she refused to get a job, and there was another thing I don't recall exactly but I think it, while not blaming stuff on her, compares the marriage to Drugstore Cowboy or something. Very mild compared to the crash and burn divorce porn that's being published now; maybe I am too invested in thinking that Bourdain is nice.

I am a huge fan of Bourdain's writing, especially the cookbook and the Typhoid Mary book, and would have thought I would read anything he published, but i may stop now unless he gets some new material.

I picked it up this weekend and I'm probably a 1/3rd of the way through it. I love his voice, actually -- his point of view is always interesting to me and while I don't always agree with him, I do find his opinion compelling. I liked the essay about what the essentials of cooking are and that all kids should know how to do them before they graduate. SO many people I know have no clue in the kitchen and it just makes me sad. I mean, how can you not know how to cut an onion? But many faced with that simple task just freeze. Or cut themselves.

For me he comes off as a flawed man who readily admits his flaws and his own contribution to his mistakes and is trying to figure out how he's not managed to die from them -- and in fact, prosper. I think there's a lot of humble pie in his writing and as jestef noted, self-deprecation. I haven't gotten to the parts that bibi rose mentioned -- we'll see if I want to punch him afterwards. I doubt it though.

For me -- it's really about how he turns a phrase and tells a story--how he's willing to look at darkness and own up to it. The whole lost weekend essay about the awful rich woman and St. Barth's -- that was a very interesting piece to me. While he's worn the hat of a chef/cook -- he's really a writer and an honest one. I've liked everything I've read of his -- including the novels. I totally recommend them.

shannon