Medium Raw

Nick and I listened to this audiobook as we drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Over dinner that night we talked about the book, and both of us were very reluctant to say the truth: we didn't really like it. We danced around it a bit, but in the end it had to be said. Both of us had a big problem with the narrative - it jumped all over the place with no notable pattern to keep it together. Judging from some of the reviews, it's actually a collection of essays rather than a narrative book, which I did not realize. Perhaps this would have been obvious if I was reading it instead of listening, but in the audio format the essay style just comes off as messy.

My other criticism is that it was so negative and complainy (is that a word?). Yes, I know this is Anthony Bourdain. I loved “No Reservations”, “Kitchen Confidential”, and he's one of my favorite guest judges on Top Chef - I am very aware that snide and complainy is what he does. But this was just so over the top, it felt like someone doing a caricature of Anthony Bourdain. It was exhausting and annoying, which isn't good for a 6 hour drive.

The good: there is one part where he goes into food porn mode, giving sizzling glimpses of food encounters that are great individually but layer together to make something magical (like eating figs, then eating them with prosciutto). Far and away the best part of the book. Be careful though, because hearing this section when you are surrounded by Wendy's and Subways and Pizza Hut To-Gos might just make you crazy.

I genuinely believe that the reason no controversy came up about Bourdain after his death is because he already revealed all the things that anyone could have tried to dig up. He wrote so honestly, exposing himself and his soft underbelly. I love the way he writes about food. I love the way he writes about his friends and foes. I miss New York and his voice as I read.

Ik heb [b:Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly 33313 Kitchen Confidential Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly Anthony Bourdain https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433739086s/33313.jpg 4219] graag gelezen, en ik zie die mens graag bezig op tv.Medium Raw is een vervolg op Kitchen Confidential: nog altijd even stream of consciousness, maar wel van een volledig andere mens. Waar het eerste boek geschreven is door iemand die beseft dat hij ergens in de veertig is, en dat hij geboren is met alle mogelijke kansen en mogelijkheden, maar dat hij na een hele reeks verkeerde keuzes (gemakszucht, drugs, drank) eigenlijk in een doodlopende straat, is dit een boek van iemand die totaal onverwacht zijn wildste dromen kan waarmaken.Hij werd een bekende Amerikaan, kreeg tv-programma's, reisde de wereld af, werd vrienden met de grootste koks ter wereld. En ergens tussen dan en nu is heeft hij zijn leren vest aan de haak gehangen, heeft hij een gezin geticht, en is hij milder geworden. Op simmige vlakken, dan toch.Bourdain is op zijn best als hij observeert, of het nu de ochtend van een visfileerder in een sterrenrestaustarant is, of die keer dat hij (post-beroemd-worden) het nadir had bereikt ergens in een subtropisch paradijs, en met een ‘rich bitch' de wereld van échte rijke mensen zag.En voor de rest meandert het. Meandert het zeer veel. Maar is het wel wijs om lezen.

Bourdain was a brilliant and eloquent observer who could be found mincing many things except words, and his fans, myself included, loved him for it. His fascination with and simultaneous disdain for humanity matches my own and so, when I read or watch the things he's written and produced, I feel not so much entertained as I feel seen. For that, I'll be forever grateful.