World Travel: An Irreverent Guide

This is a shameless piece of crap that everything we know about Tony would have us believe he would hate. I loved the man. I loved him in a way that doubtless we would both find very uncomfortable had we ever met. When I saw this book was coming I was excited that it would be a collection of his travel writing, script copy from the shows or his last prose before his death. It is however total bull@#it. Quotes taken from his TV shows about various locations along with copy and pastes from the lonely planet. A nice piece by his brother but otherwise utterly devoid of content. To be fair, the author makes clear in the intro that the book is based on a 1 hour conversation they had about the possibility of writing a travel guide. But this? From someone who knew the man well and worked with him for years, this is insulting. It's worse than Gone Bamboo! Laurie Woolever should be marched through the streets and pelted with rancid foie gras for what has been done to the memory of an (albeit deeply flawed) anti-hero of the highest regard. Save your money and buy something nice from the deli instead. Eat it in the great man's name. Take your shoes off first.

This is a very enjoyable book, which contains ideas about lots of places to visit.Countries on every populated continent are listed alphabetical with several countries, especially the United States, having several entries for separate places. The book is a mixture of Anthony Bourdain’s quotes from his various TV programmes, information about places he enjoyed eating in every entry, and in some cases recommended places to stay.It also has information on which airports to use for each destination and helpful detail on taxis and public transport from each airport. The book could be used for reference - to find restaurant recommendations and ideas of places (nearly always luxury accommodation here) to stay, along with airport transport information.Alternatively, it can be used and enjoyed as I did, by reading the book and enjoying the entries from cover to cover.The book is illustrated throughout with some very enjoyable drawings and features a number of short articles by people who had experienced a destination with Bourdain.The book is neither a travel guide, nor a food guide, nor a memoir - it is a little of all these things, and is unique in my experience of travel books as a result - but it is enjoyable to read, and I will return to it for ideas when we can travel again

Somewhat disappointed as it doesn’t expand upon the TV series. It has only the briefest descriptions of places and food which are just direct quotes from the TV show. It doesn’t even include any photographs. Also, adding ‘how to get to’ information is completely superfluous these days and just smacks of ‘filler’. I was and still am a big fan of Bourdain and I really wanted to like this book but sadly this adds nothing to my knowledge and understanding of the man and the places he loved to eat in. Not sure who this is pitched at…maybe people who don’t know him or who haven’t watched his shows? I’d avoid if you’re not one of these people.

This is an entirely useless, already outdated travel guide that offers virtually no practical information. Random Bourdain quotes precede a scant paragraph or two spotlighting one or two restaurants in each featured city (many of them now closed) and it's telling that the most in-depth information focuses on how to get from the various airports into town! Even the short descriptions of each destination are marred by breezy cliches and a fleeting sense of place.

While it's a well presented book I was disappointed - it read like a combination of quotes from Parts Unknown (which I'm currently watching) and a Rough Guide. Don't let this stop you from buying the book - I would just suggest don't watch Parts Unknown at the same time as reading the book! I'll get hold of Kitchen Confidential as it was actually written by AB.