A review by jare
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (Updated Edition) by Anthony Bourdain

4.0

Much has been said about this as a piece, and I won’t reiterate those points. Something I’ve heard very rarely, however, is how Bourdain, almost certainly intentionally, questions why we even deign to work at all, if not for necessity. Everyone needs money to survive, and everyone would like to be good at something. The human spirit wants to create, and capitalist society wants workers. Folks in the food industry walk that line every day- and they see and know more that most people ever will. It’s probably the most ubiquitous social position of being both a creative and a craftsperson, all while virtually never consuming the incredibly expensive product you create. You own nothing- not your ingredients, equipment, kitchen- and yet your skills are everything- you live and die by them.

Through his experiences, Bourdain shows how this relationship both damages, and uplifts people, all while being deeply funny, poignant, sardonic, cynical, and at times, surprisingly compassionate.

I wonder what Marx would have thought of this one.