My Crush on Anthony Bourdain.

[browngirl]

So, I have acquired a crush on Anthony Bourdain (or at least his TV persona, which he does do a good job of making look authentic). He plays a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold very well; for all his cynicism and snark, he listens respectfully to everyone (except his producers), even seeming to respect people more the less money they're surviving on. He enjoys a great many things, and when he enjoys them he enjoys them thoroughly and without reservation.

(Plus, well, that whole leathery-voiced foul-mouthed bad-boy thing.)

I've started watching travel shows recently, I'm not sure why. Maybe seeing other people's well-edited vacations just entertains me. At any rate, I've been watching No Reservations, Mr. Bourdain's show, and... I was charmed by the episode on Ghana, which he presented so respectfully, but without artifice. He didn't show the Savage Benighted Africa people envision in the West, he showed a thriving country reaching out to those of us in the African Diaspora, reaching out to the whole world. I was delighted by the episode on Korea, where he let one of his employees (a young Korean-American woman) haul him around her heritage; he complained amusingly, drank entertainingly, and observed soulfully, and was really nice and polite to her family.

And then the episode on Jamaica! It only makes sense to judge a travelogue by what it says about the bits of the world one knows, doesn't it? Well, he got Jamaica 100% right. I nearly cried with nostalgic delight. And he showed... there's a lot more to Jamaica than the tourist version, and people often don't realize that. He showed some of the rest of Jamaica, grit and grandeur both. So I feel I can trust his presentation of other places, because he did so well by the island I know.

I don't know if I should write him a fan letter; he'd probably just crumple it and use it to light a cigarette. But he's won my heart all the same.

Comments

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Write him a letter. I've been reading his nonfiction for years (he also has mystery novels, but I haven't read them) and he'd like to know did Jamaica right.

(And, according to the blog he shares with Michael Ruhlman, he's quit smoking. His wife won't let him smoke around their baby, and they live in high-rise. It wasn't worth the trip for a cigarette. :))

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Poor man,forced to stop smoking!

Maybe I'll write him.

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

I've got a problem with him, but that's due to his thinking vegetarianism is wrong and horrible.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I was very frustrated with his take in Kitchen Confidential on both vegetarianism and lactose-intolerance. But the fact that his scorn extended even as far as people who order chicken made it clear to me that he's just ranting, and in a sense that's why I read the book in the first place -- because he's so entertaining when he's mouthing off.

I did really love Kitchen Confidential and highly recommend it.

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it's an entertaining read, but I'm frankly not willing to read something that I know includes a personal insult.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, sweetie. I thought of asking you if you wanted me to delete the entry.

Still, you've reminded me of what I forgot to say in this entry. I was surprised to like him. I'm not surprised to hear he's insulted vegetarianism; I've read what he thinks of fat people, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have much use for me. He always struck me as founding his humor on mockery and cruelty, until I started watching this show.

But with all that... he's said some amazingly tender things about food, people, places. He could have been condescending to the Ghanians and made the country look primitive and muddy. He could have made all of Jamaica look like a theme park or a pot-smoke-filled gangster's paradise. He didn't do these things, and I have to give him credit for that, too.

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. I'm not willing to expose myself to his negativism about a choice I've made, or the result of other choices I've made in the past. That said, I'm glad to hear that he has said some things that could have been negative and are positive.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

He really is entertainingly mouthy. Sometimes he pisses me off, but much more often he makes me laugh and/or charms me.

His books definetely have moved way up on my to-read list.

[jim-p.livejournal.com]

I'm a major fan too. Have you read Kitchen Confidential? That book validated my decision not to become a chef, much as I enjoy cooking :)

[supergee.livejournal.com]

I loved its portrayal of the kitchen culture, though I am not particularly interested in reading about food.

[petronelle.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying Kitchen Confidential right now, too.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I've read chunks of Kitchen Confidential, but by no means the whole thing. But, yeah, I am certainly not tough enough to be a professional chef!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I read Kitchen Confidential and it made me want to go work in a kitchen. Heat by Bill Buford also gives me that desire.

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

I adore Tony Bourdain. He's going to speak in Seattle in June and I'm thinking of going to see him.

If you haven't read any of his books, give one a try. I would recommend A Cook's Tour. He's a beautiful writer.

Also, Food Network is now replaying A Cook's Tour series. Last night was his kaiseki meal experience in Japan.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Have a grand time listening to him talk! *adds qbook to list*

Maybe I'll watch A Cook's Tour too. But there is the whole 24/7 thing...