Down and Out in Paradise

July 25, 2022
Biographer Leerhsen (Ty Cobb) delivers an irreverent treatment of chef and reality TV star Anthony Bourdain (1956–2018). Leerhsen sources dozens of interviews and documented conversations to bring light to Bourdain’s private relationships, particularly with his parents. Growing up in the upper-class suburb of Leonia, N.J., Bourdain developed, in his own words, a “spoiled romanticism” born of a “smothering chokehold of love and normalcy.” He followed his high school crush (and later wife), Nancy, to Vassar College, where he struggled socially and academically before leaving to join the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Leerhsen shows how, while Bourdain grew in confidence at the CIA, he piled on drugs and debt, and later survived several New York City kitchens before landing at the now-famous Les Halles, obsessively scribbling in notebooks all the while. Leerhsen teases from the beginning that Bourdain’s tumultuous relationship with Italian actor Asia Argento, which began in 2016, intertwined with the growing desperation that led up to his suicide. Leerhsen also speculates on what that pivotal romance as well as relationships with restaurant owners, and other supporting characters reveal of Bourdain’s tortured psyche, despite how guarded his team keeps his posthumous image. Throughout, saucy quips are amply ladled on. It’s a three-dimensional view of a man who cultivated authenticity while he was alive, relayed with similarly frank humor.

June 10, 2024

The world was shocked by the 2018 suicide of celebrity chef and travel show host Anthony Bourdain. Leerhsen's (Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty) latest considers the man with a perfect job, international reputation, and a young daughter vs. the thoughts and feelings that might have led him to end his life. Narrated with solemnity and drive by Vikas Adam, the book starts with a chronicle of "Tony's" adolescence and early adulthood. Adam channels Leerhsen's intensely honest approach, portraying Bourdain as an upper-class suburban Jersey boy who struggled with career choices until he worked at a Cape Cod restaurant one summer. He attended the Culinary Institute of America and worked in a string of Manhattan restaurants. The publication of Kitchen Confidential set him on the road to hosting several television shows, including CNN's Parts Unknown. He had two failed marriages and a stormy relationship with Italian actress Asia Argento. Bourdain appears to have been an enigma--kind, generous, outgoing, and well spoken, but also moody, unpredictable, controversial, and self-destructive. While Leerhsen provides excerpts of interviews, emails, and texts from Bourdain's friends and lovers, listeners may be disappointed at the lack of new information. VERDICT Interest in Bourdain continues to be high; expect this audiobook to be popular among library patrons.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

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