Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (Insider's Edition) by Anthony Bourdain

14 reviews

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective fast-paced

3.5

not so much a memoir as a detailed, enjoyable account of bourdain's time in the culinary industry, kitchen confidential is a fast, hilarious, self-deprecating and informative read. there's resto secrets, kitchen dynamics, no-frill recipes, marvels on the awesomeness of food, and musings on different ppl and food cultures. man was rly ahead of his time im; whats not to like? i love food and i miss mr. bourdain very much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing

Moderate: Sexual content, Racism, Drug use, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide

lizsurber's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Sexual content, Cursing, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Bullying, Mental illness, and Sexual harassment

youngluteplayer's review

dark funny reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Cursing

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Drug abuse

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

2.5

My son, a bartender, wanted me to read this.  I was not an Anthony Bourdain fan, having never read any of his books, nor watched his shows.  This book didn't make me a fan, either.  

I think I would have liked it if I'd read it in the early 2000s when it was first published.  As a forty-something person, I would have enjoyed this book's rough, vulgar, stream-of-consciousness.  But reading it in 2023 was a different experience.  I found the repeated descriptions of substance abuse, criminal activity, and swearing tiring and boring.  

The book's best parts were the detailed descriptions of what it takes to manage and run a restaurant and the incredible skill and timing of the people working on the line.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Violence, Drug use, Sexism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Cursing, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Vomit

crssmith's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

cmcrockford's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny informative fast-paced

4.5

Obviously would be very different in many senses if published in 2023 but this is fun as all hell. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Drug use, and Sexual content

eilishtoohey's review against another edition

4.0

I should preface this review with the admission that until about a year ago, I knew basically nothing about Anthony Bourdain. I had heard his name before and knew that he was big in the culinary world. But as I have never had much interest in reality TV, that was the extent of my knowledge. It was only after viewing this incredible video essay by Lola Sebastian (which you should definitely watch if you have the time) that I found myself wanting to learn more about the man. And his most well-known memoir seemed the best place to start.

Kitchen Confidential is a difficult book to review, since Bourdain himself would go on to regret most of what he wrote here. This is particularly obvious in this edition, which includes handwritten annotations Bourdain wrote 12 years after the original publication date. It creates a stark contrast between the more inexperienced—I'm hesitant to say 'immature,' considering Bourdain was in his 40s when the book was released—narrator of the main text and the Bourdain that the world would come to know. As he states in the book's introduction, "I never knew shit about shit."

Read the full review at My Cluttered Bookshelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Homophobia, and Suicide

kellyofcali's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative inspiring tense medium-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed this book - it's interesting, while I was very aware OF Anthony Bourdain, I don't think I knew much about him, and this is very much him unfiltered (or feels that way) - which both makes you like him more, and less, and feel very sad for what eventually happened to him. It's both a great book for people who love food and restaurants and a terrible one, as it's very honest (and often gross) but the man just loves food.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Addiction, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, and Drug use

Minor: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

mandaraffe's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Racism, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Blood, Cursing, Sexism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death and Racial slurs

Minor: Suicide

tyrannosaurus_lex's review against another edition

dark funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.5

Bourdain’s writing feels effortless, though knowing the final outcome of his life tinges the entire book with a thread of sadness. I’d highly recommend the audiobook, read by Bourdain himself. The final chapters are unforgettable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Vomit and Injury/Injury detail