Having heard and read a ton *about* Anthony Bourdain, I'd been meaning to pick this one up for a while so I could hear straight *from* him. And though the book title and description do not indicate this book will be about really anything but professional kitchens, why did I weirdly think this book would have less detail about cooking in professional kitchens?!

That's on me, but unfortunately I found a lot of the stories about Bourdain's early career and his travels from kitchen to kitchen kind of tedious. There were of course interesting moments and his famous personality comes through full force (especially via the audiobook version), but I guess I'm just not that interested in the so-called ~~underbelly~~ of the culinary world?

I mostly just couldn't believe that any sane person would choose to be a chef in the first place, and even moreso that anyone would stay in the career after experiencing its craziness. Though if this book has a thesis, it's probably that chefs are decidedly *not* sane people.

So anyway, if you do find yourself fascinated with what goes on behind the swinging doors of a restaurant kitchen, then this book is definitely for you. Otherwise, you're probably better suited to Bourdain's show—which I still intend to watch! Bourdain is super gruff, insanely likable, and an undoubtedly great storyteller... but I just want to hear him tell stories about his international culinary experiences instead.