Review: Bourdain sells out and gives in _A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal_

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After reading Anthony Bourdain's very amusing and revealing _Kitchen Confidential,_ I was looking forward to taking this one in. Designed as a counterpoint to his current series on FoodTV, _A Cook's Tour_ is a manic ride at the shoulder of someone who is definately out of the ordinary. What I really enjoy about this author's work is that he is _honest._ He doesn't pull any punches at his attitude towards life, towards his profession or the emotions he faces in this journey around the world. It's funny, and it's also heartbreaking -- not only do we get to see places you would never visit when things are good, he also gets into the way that Americans look at the world, and how the rest of the world looks at us. Sometimes it gets ribald and pretty funny -- such as when Bourdain is out with the girls and crawling through the tapas restaurants in Spain, or when the waitress in a St. Petersburg bar mentions that she concerned that he's not drinking enough (Bourdain had a total of about 15 vodka shots). The book starts off with a letter home to his wife from a hellhole in Cambodia where in the lobby a sign is posted that automatic weapons are not allowed. Bourdain is miserable and homesick, and it gives an intimate look at what life on the road is like. From there, we get to see Bourdain's own doubts about 'selling' out -- especially when it's the Food network. He's frank and honest, and the stories are interspersed with little nuggets of information on just why a person should never do a tv series. Those alone will send you off into a fit of laughter, such as a cameraman cruelly teasing the author with an out of reach tv remote and the joys of Jerry Lewis while Bourdain is suffering from food poisoning. He's also truthful about the fact that he doesn't like Emeril or Bobby Flay, and now is taking payback for his own treatment of them in his first book. And this has all of the stuff you won't be seeing on the tv series -- this has been considerably cleaned up on the road between the pages to the television screen. There's threats, dealing with mobsters, dealing dope, dealing weapons and payoffs and bribes. But there is a chapter that makes it worth it all. It's the fourth one or so, when Bourdain returns with his brother to the French town where they would spend their family vacations. It's a bittersweet journey into childhood, and one of the most sensitive bits of autobiography that I have ever read. Five stars for some gutsy storytelling and a new way to look at traveling. If you are already a foodie, you'll have a great time looking for new tastes, and if you are not -- well, there's a big wide world out there waiting for you. A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines Anthony Bourdain 2002: Harper Perennial ISBN 978-0060012786 (This was previously published on a now defunct website. Copyright 2018 Rebecca Huston. Don't steal my work.)