Biography Books > A Biography Books > B > Anthony Bourdain

Advantages: Dozens of delicious and dodgy dinners
Disadvantages: It's vegetarian hell!

...this swaggering, gung-ho account of a year-long global culinary gross-out, he despatches, or witnesses the bloody deaths of, a pig, a lamb, several rabbits, a turkey and a cobra. I wasn't totally surprised by the carnage. I had read Bourdain's previous, autobiographical 'Kitchen Confidential'. He describes that book as "an obnoxious and overtestosteroned account of my life in the restaurant business". It was all that and more. It took the reader ...
...was never going to be a genteel affair. If American celebrity chef Bourdain is not totally honest in his justifications for the brutal, foulmouthed world of the restaurant kitchen, he is at least open about his motivation for writing 'A Cook's Tour'. On the back of the success of 'Kitchen Confidential' he persuades an editor to allow him a culinary grand tour. Ostensibly 'in search of the perfect meal' (the book's subtitle), he would get to play ... Read review

Advantages: Funny, incisive and refreshingly honest
Disadvantages: Might put some people off eating out

A couple of years ago we were told that cooking was the new rock'n'roll. If Anthony Bourdain is to be believed, it's the new punk - it's in your face, sharp as a Sabatier knife and it makes no apologies. "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly" is a rollercoaster ride through his career from the lowly days as dishwasher in Provincetown, Cape Cod to the rocky heights of the Rockerfeller Centre's world famous "Rainbow Room". It's ...
...and back to New York again, manage restaurants where he is responsible for everything from the hiring and firing of the waiting staff to creating every dish on the menu. Bourdain is refreshingly honest. His story is told almost warts and all (he can't spill all the beans - there are some people who are just too dangerous to risk angering) and he offers some expert advice for anyone thinking it's a profession they might like to try. He engages the ... Read review

Advantages: Fantastic writing, amazing story
Disadvantages: You will probably cry (I did!)

...we would ever see him on tv again, would he be the same person? The first television appearance was on Jonathan Ross, and I tuned in eagerly, to see if the Hamster we all loved was still there. It seemed yes he was, apart from a new love for celery, and an uncanny ability to recall everyone's phone number! What relief. During this time we had been watching the media storm against the BBC and more specifically Top Gear, claims it was dangerous, it ...
...I had found Hammonds interview on Ross fascinating. Being stingy however, I waited until I could pick it up at two books for £7 in the supermarket! (In all fairness, it's only now Mia's reaching one that I get chance to read anyway!). To be honest, I didn't expect a talented writer when I thought of Hammond, which in hindsight, was silly, he is a journalist after all. I was shocked by the unique and direct writing style he used. Somehow, there ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent read
Disadvantages: None

Russell Watson first came to my attention when I heard him sing at the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. He sang 'Where my Heart Will Take me' (one of mine and my hubbies all time favourite songs) and I suddenly realised what an amazing voice he had. When I knew he was writing his biography I could not wait to get a copy and read it. Russell starts the book in October 2007 at the time of his collapsed and when he was told he needed ...
...We are then taken back to his childhood where he tells about how he grew up in Sunningdale Drive in Irlam, Manchester. He lived there with his mother and father and his younger sister Hayley. He openly talks about how he had a happy childhood due to the fact that his father always worked his hardest and his Mother always had her radiogram playing, he believes this is where his love for classical music came from. He tells us about the group of friends ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap, fun and easy to read
Disadvantages: I want her life

I bought this book on a spur of the moment shopping trip, basically because I was interested to see how Coleen went from being a schoolgirl to a WAG in such a short space of time. I was amazed to read her story and see how down to earth she really was, even after being catapulted at amazing speed into the limelight. She was even thoughtful enough to come back to her book and update it with her wedding plans for the release of the paperback edition. ...
...quick life update, within which she includes girly pages with tips on make-up, fashion, nights out and quizzes, making it so much more like a diary. It is really easy to read and highly enjoyable to learn how down to earth she is and how she enjoys nothing more than snuggling on her sofa watching the soaps just like the rest of us. ... Read review