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Chef turned author and globe-trotting host of No Reservations and Parts Unknown. His memoir Kitchen Confidential pulled the curtain back on restaurant life. A voracious reader, Bourdain mined literature for the moral compass of his shows.
“Orwell was there long, long before me, 'ripping the lid off' fine dining and depicting, in unsparing terms, the filth, the language, the subculture, the complete disconnect between what was seen in the dining room and what happened behind the kitchen doors. Down and Out in Paris and London changed my life.” source
“Drama, romance, tragic history in SE Asia? I'm there! I re-read it frequently. Particularly when visiting Vietnam.” source
“The book that probably influenced me more than any other. A prose stylist and a personality who changed my life.” source
“The best, most realistic crime novel ever. Best dialogue in a crime novel ever.” source
“Dancing Bear : James crumley” source
“Elegant, deliciously immoral entry in series of sociopath as hero. Basis for the Wim Wenders film, the American Friend.” source
“Filthy, dangerous, depraved groundbreaking. And funny as Hell. Not an ideal role model, I grant you. But a writer I very much looked up to and wanted, for better or worse, to emulate.” source
“Violent. Twisted. Hilarious and beautiful.” source
“The font of all wisdom. Orwell is right about nearly everything.” source
“I wish I could write like Joan Didion.” source
“'Food writing' at its very, very best. Never surpassed. What all writing about eating should be.” source
“The greatest female protagonist I've ever read. Portis is one of the most underrated under appreciated authors of the 20th century. Forget the film versions. Read the book.” source
“Donald Ray Pollock was a revelation when I first read The Devil All the Time.” source
“A book I've read many times but keep coming back to.” source
“To reiterate : Gabrielle Hamilton's PRUNE is indeed, a fucking masterpiece.” source
