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 

Mini Reviews: Kitchen Counter Cooking School, Ramona Forever, and The Kitchen House

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School
by Kathleen Flinn
Viking, 2011

Summary in a Sentence:

Writer Kathleen Flinn, who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, shares stories and lessons to inspire home cooks.

Read it if...

you like to cook but often don't due to lack of confidence or lack of knowledge about which knife to use. 5 stars.

Ramona Forever

by Beverly Cleary
HarperCollins, 1984

Summary in a Sentence:

A lot happens during Ramona's year in third grade, highlighted by the arrival of Howie's rich uncle, a change in her after-school situation, a surprise wedding, a death and a new arrival in the family, and her father's getting a job.

Read it if...

you're a lifelong Ramona fan like me! I'm revisiting all the Ramona books this year and hoping to introduce Ramona to a great many of my students at the library.  4 stars.

The Kitchen House
by Kathleen Grissom
Touchstone, 2010

Summary in a Sentence:

After seven-year-old Lavinia is orphaned on the journey from Ireland to the United States, she begins work in the kitchen house of a tobacco plantation and bonds with the slaves who become her adopted family, but when Lavinia is accepted into the big house, her loyalties are challenged.

Read it if...

you enjoy historical fiction mingled with a little too much tragedy and histrionics. It was a veritable soap opera of disaster. Please remember I am in the minority on this opinion. Most reviews were glowing. Me, not so much. 2.5 stars.