This book is a collection of previously published articles, written for a variety of magazines, from Gourmet to some (unnamed) British travel mag. If you've watched any of Bourdain's TV series, or read any of his previous books, you already have a sense of what this is like. Bourdain has a consistent voice and attitude (sarcastic working-class New Yorker), and as expected, brings it here to bear, for the most part, on food, travel, and the restaurant trade.

The collection is a bit uneven, but nothing's really bad, and some of the articles are just wonderful. My favorite might be the homage to Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas that describes the filming, with Michael Ruhlmann, of his _No Reservations_ episode in Las Vegas. Another treat is the final item in the book, a short piece of Christmas fiction that is uncharacteristically sweet, hopeful, unsarcastic, and utterly sincere. It's the first piece of his fiction that I've read, but I liked it enough that I want to dig up his novels. ( )

Very good, but it's better to read it in parts between other books. ( )

This was an excellent reading experience. If you have read Bourdain before, then you know what you are getting. If not, this book makes an excellent entry point into his writing. He writes in a direct, honest style; he is very conversational. The work reads as if he was there sitting with you telling all those stories of places visited around the world, cooks and chefs he has met, and what he has learned along the way. He has a good eye for detail, and his descriptions just make you long to be there, wherever there happens to be. This is a collection of his short works, organized in broad themes ("bitter," "sweet" etc.). So you can read it through, or you can pick and choose. This book will make you want to travel, and it certainly will make you want to seek out some better food fare at the closest hole in the wall place you can find.

Some of the passages I enjoyed include: his look at the celebrity chef phenomenon, the story of the celebrity chef he would like to see (very unlike anything on TV), the story of cook Hamilton (the hardcore cook), eating in China where "everybody pays tomorrow" but they come back anyways the next day (my kind of food, hehe), oh, and reading about Chef Ferra was also very cool. But he also expresses other opinions such as on caning in Singapore (which is a great foodie place, by the way). He has a small piece on how to behave in restaurants that I think should be mandatory reading for anyone who needs to learn some basic manners. In the end, Bourdain combines passion with open mindedness and, this I admire, a respect for the cultures and places he visits that I find moving, interesting, entertaining, and informational; I feel I learned a lot just from this book about all sorts of places. By the way, he also includes a sampling of his fiction (I did not know he wrote fiction; nice, but I like his nonfiction better), and at the end, there are some commentaries on some of the essays. These small commentaries are kind of like the extras on a DVD, giving some further insights. This is a book I highly recommend. To those readers who have gentle dispositions, Bourdain does use some language here and there, but don't let that deter you. This is definitely a book worth reading. ( )

A collection of essays that were mostly good. Was an easy read that had a little bit of everything. ( )

Love his writing, unfortunately I already know a lot of the stories he has here. ( )