I like that he writes as he speaks, that is he needs to be censored every few words. I’ve motored through all but 5% of Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw today, taking a vacation from a vacation before everything gets back to normal on Monday.
The book is written in his inimitably, “no one is as cool as me” style which wears thin, as he admits, when he dances at a class with his young child. A lot is reminiscent of Kitchen Confidential so he may want to go on to murder mysteries from whence the writing bug started.
The star of the show, so far, in my estimation is the “book review” of Old Yeller. If I had the guts to write that in my third grade book report the principal would’ve expelled me, but I’d have been happy. Why kill the dog? What do you mean rabies isn’t curable??? Besides, I didn’t know any of those curse words yet so my literary repertoire was limited.
Tony, your error may have been in not reading more of those epic tragedies, as my favorite books at age eight were Death Be Not Proud and The Diary of Anne Frank. And I never skipped a day of school in my life. That’s why in your estimation, I can be a dedicated and loving home cook but never a line cook or chef. Though I did attend school and apprentice but that was years ago.
Though the terms are crude, there’s much in this book to enjoy from most lusted-after foods to chef and road stories. The most educational chapter is about whether/why go to cooking school. It is a primer every potential new cook or career-changer should read. Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 
Well I wish you could help me find a few words of encouragement to bolster my boy’s enthusiasm for middle school, as they pile ’em down w/homework to show these 7th graders a small preview of what high school’s gonna be like…
I had to tell him I didn’t have much enthusiasm for showing up for work this morning either, after my associate called to report she won’t be here (her mother took a fall & fractured a vertebra).
So far it hasn’t been too bad of a Monday the 13th!
I guess telling a teen-ager he might actually learn something at school might actually be a deterrent to learning. Starting with “You’re smart and need to do something useful with your life” won’t work either. Even preceded with “I love you.”
These are what are called “the difficult years.” Learn to love your work even more, as you’ll get further with the dogs, cats, horses, pigs and others that come into your vet practice as they don’t talk back. Love you, Val! Dee
To the Bourdain staff, thanks for checking in. It was a good review. You do good work.