Mini Book Review: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Kitchen Confidential 
by Anthony Bourdain
Ecco/Harper Perennial, 2000
Nonfiction memoir

What's It All About?

A New York City chef who is also a novelist recounts his experiences in the restaurant business, and exposes abuses of power, sexual promiscuity, drug use, and other secrets of life behind kitchen doors.

Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.

Who Should Read It?

Read it if you love foodie nonfiction and don't mind some potty mouth talk. This book is truly a love letter to the dark underbelly of New York restaurant kitchens.

What Else Should I Read?

• Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
• Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
• Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn

What If I Don't Believe You?

Don't take my word for it! Check out these other reviews: 

Love, Laughter, Insanity | Steph & Tony Investigate | The Well-Read Redhead 

What I'm Reading: Laughing Without An Accent by Firoozeh Dumas

Laughing Without An Accent
by Firoozeh Dumas
Random House, 2008

Summary in a Sentence:

The author describes her experiences being an Iranian American in both the United States and abroad, and explains cross-cultural issues she has faced, as well as her experiences with motherhood. 

Read it if...

you too used to be embarrassed by how crazy your parents were but now simply find their insanity endearing. 4 stars.

Read the Reviews:

Caribousmom |  S. Krishna's Books | The Novel World

Mini Reviews: Confederates in the Attic, A Thousand Lives, and Malaria Dreams

Confederates in the Attic
by Tony Horwitz
Vintage, 1998
Non-Fiction (History)

Summary in a Sentence:

Tony Horwitz, a former war correspondent, tells of his journeys to Civil War battlefields and the colorful people he meets along the way.

Read it if...

you've ever noticed that the 'War Between the States' continues to live in so many issues still with us, or if you're simply a fan of good narrative non-fiction. 5 stars.

A Thousand Lives

by Julia Scheeres
Free Press, 2011
Non-Fiction (Religion)

Summary in a Sentence:

Presents an account of how Jim Jones' followers who started out seeking a Utopian dream, soon found themselves trapped in a work camp run by a madman, and ended in the mass murder-suicide of 914 members in November 1978.

Read it if...

you remember what happened at Jonestown or have ever heard the phrase "don't drink the Kool-Aid" and were curious about its derivation. 3 stars.

Malaria Dreams
by Stuart Stevens
Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989
Non-Fiction (Travel Writing)

Summary in a Sentence:

Recounts an adventure, by Stevens and a companion, across the wildest part of Africa that includes Cameroon, Lake Chad, Niger, Timbuktu, the Sahara, and ends at the shores of the Mediterranean.

Read it if...

you love armchair travel with hints of hilarity, or if you'd like to really know what Africa was like in the late 1980s. 5 stars.

Another Day in the Frontal Lobe by Katrina Firlik

Another Day in the Frontal Lobe
by Katrina Firlik
Random House, 2006
288 pages
Nonfiction/Autobiography
Personal Copy

Summary in a Sentence:

A medical rarity—only five percent of this country's 4000 neurosurgeons are women—Firlik lets us in on the secrets of her job.

My Thoughts:

This book was simply fascinating. Neurosurgeon Firlik takes the reader through her experiences as a medical student then a resident neurosurgeon with pit stops to explain some odd curiosities about both her chosen profession and the brain itself. Not many women have ventured into the area of neurosurgery-only about 200 at the time the book was published just a few years ago- so this book gives the reader quite the inside glimpse into the field.

"Luckily, in this modern era, I've never found the need to storm out of a room, call anyone a chauvinist, or report any transgressions to the authorities. The way for women in surgery has already been paved to a great degree, and I'm grateful for all the women who must have had it harder-much harder-than I did."

Firlik discusses the world of brain surgery much the same as a mechanic would discuss the goings on at the auto shop at times. She stresses the physicality of the job, complete with the drills and handsaws often required to reach the soft tissue that requires surgery. Also included in the book are some very interesting little-known tidbits on the brain and its amazing ability to heal. This is a great nonfiction pick for the layperson interested in science and the workings of the brain, not to mention those interested in women's studies.

~ This book counts towards the Women Unbound Challenge ~

You might also like:

• Visit Doctor as author for more recommendations
• When the air hits your brain by Frank Vertosick
• Weekends at Bellevue by Julie Holland
• What Patients Taught Me by Audrey Young 
  

Other Reviews:

• One Swede Read
• Canadian Bookworm
• Bellas Novella
  

An Alphabetical Life by Wendy Werris

An Alphabetical Life
by Wendy Werris
Pub: Carroll & Graf, 2006
ISBN: 9780786718177
292 pages
Genre: autobiography/nonfiction
Source: Personal Copy

Summary in a Sentence:

Publisher's sales representative Wendy Werris chronicles her thirty-five years in the bookselling business, her experiences as a woman in the industry, her father's struggles as a television writer, her rape, and her mother's death.

My Thoughts:

I'm a big sucker for books about bookstores. Or books about books in general. Needless to say, when I stumbled across Werris's memoir on sale, I snatched it up immediately. Werris begins her narrative by introducing her readers to the world of Pickwick Books, where her long career in the book business so humbly began at the tender age of 19.

The famous Pickwick Bookshop where author Werris got her start.

Werris's father, Snag Werris, was a writer for the Jackie Gleason Show and between his famous friends and Werris's job in Hollywood, quite a bit of name-dropping goes on in the book which initally irked me. However, it was interesting to read about the book buying habits of Alfred Hitchcock, Mick Jagger  and Joni Mitchell. In time, Werris becomes a publisher's rep in a time where few women held such a position. In 1976, she was one of two women book reppers in the country. She was something of a trailblazer in the field and often faced frustration as independent bookstores closed in the face of chain megastores.

Recommended for anyone who loves books about books, as well as lovers of autobiographies and women's studies.

This book counts towards the Women Unbound Challenge and The Four Month Challenge.

Rating:  3.5/5

Also Recommended:

• The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee
• Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co by Jeremy Mercer
• 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
  

Other Reviews:

• Literary License
• Books and other Stuff