In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain

Tough book recounted from one of Bourdain's long-time producers. Bourdain was a chef, a world-traveler, a genius, an artist, a thrill-seeker, a rule-breaker, a tyrant, an addict and an abuser. He was deeply complicated, and it was devastating that he took his own life. To end on a lighter note, here's a quote from Bourdain that resonated with me:

"Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that's okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind."
-Anthony Bourdain

First, let me start by saying that I am a HUGE Tony Bourdain fan. I own all of his non fiction books and have read them all multiple times. His passing was so sad, I still can't truly believe he is gone. With all that said, when I saw this offered on BOTM I couldn't have picked any other book that month, it was definitely coming home with me. Reading this, the memoir of one of Tony's directors, has made me rewatch a lot of specific episodes. I'm probably not the only one that turns No Reservations or Parts Unknown on as background noise, it's definitely a constant in my house, but I rarely pick a specific episode. Typically I just turn it on and let it run through all the episodes before staring over a la The Office rewatch loop. This book however, made me search out the episodes Tom mentions and they're even more rich once I've read the behind the scenes pov. I especially love love love the middle insert of (color!) photographs of Tom's travels with Tony. It was wonderful to flip through and recognize the scenes I had just read about. I am very happy that he covered the time Tony and President Obama shared a meal in Vietnam. That was my favorite episode and I was hoping it would be included. Tom also examines all of the foreshadowing of Tony's life. His self deprecating humor and his propensity for making jokes about death and suicide are both sad and something we already knew about Tony. It's actually one of the things about him that I always found charming as I also have a very dark sense of humor. Knowing what we know now it's easy to see that it was very possibly a cry for help. It's a sad reminder that everyone needs to know they're valued, even those like Tony who seem to have it all figured out. I don't want to go into too much detail and ruin the magic that Tom has woven into this book so I'll just say that there are so many reasons to read this! Are you a Tony fan? A fan of great food? Funny and interesting travel stories? Dangerous but memorable travel? You'll find all of that and more. I will definitely re-read this at some point like I do all my favorites and I will be recommending it as well.