Rating: 
Summary: Tasteless fare
Review: As a substitute for thorough research and intelligent reflection, the author offers up a full course dinner of "probablies" and "maybes." Then, to disguise the lack of substance, he adds liberal dashes of personal invective and Political Correctness--he decides a photograph of a leading figure in the story reveals a "geek" and a "nerd," who furthermore, for undisclosed reasons, is also a "racist." (There are no photographs in the book.) Any woman is automatically oppressed and heroic. You get the idea.So much better to stick to facts and let the reader judge. Worst of all, the style is bizarre. The book reads like a first draft by an author convinced that anything he puts down on paper is pure gold. New York is full of competent editors, and some honest ones. Next time, use one of the latter.
Rating: 
Summary: Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical
Review: Author Anthony Bourdain provides the reader with a quick 148 page story of Mary Mallon, known to history as Typhoid Mary. Mary worked as a cook in the New York City area at the turn of the 20th century and unwittingly spread typhoid germs to those she served, although she, herself, appeared healthy. Author Bourdain goes into detail as to how Mary was tracked down and fingered as the culprit in the spreading of typhoid. Mary strongly denied her role in the spreading of the germs to those she served. Mary spent the last years of her unhappy life on North Brother island located just north of Riker's Island in New York City. The author also provides us with living conditions in New York City at the turn of the 20th century.I had heard of Typhoid Mary and this quick read will fill you in with some very interesting details in her life. The author concludes the book with a visit he made to Mary's grave in the Bronx in 1973 in which he, himself a cook, left his first chef's knife at the base of Mary's stone behind the tall grass as a gift to her as he said, "from cook to cook." This book will also make you think about the cleanliness of restaurants you eat in today.
Rating: 
Summary: A Quick Interesting Read
Review: Author Anthony Bourdain provides the reader with a quick 148 page story of Mary Mallon, known to history as Typhoid Mary. Mary worked as a cook in the New York City area at the turn of the 20th century and unwittingly spread typhoid germs to those she served, although she, herself, appeared healthy. Author Bourdain goes into detail as to how Mary was tracked down and fingered as the culprit in the spreading of typhoid. Mary strongly denied her role in the spreading of the germs to those she served. Mary spent the last years of her unhappy life on North Brother island located just north of Riker's Island in New York City. The author also provides us with living conditions in New York City at the turn of the 20th century.I had heard of Typhoid Mary and this quick read will fill you in with some very interesting details in her life. The author concludes the book with a visit he made to Mary's grave in the Bronx in 1973 in which he, himself a cook, left his first chef's knife at the base of Mary's stone behind the tall grass as a gift to her as he said, "from cook to cook." This book will also make you think about the cleanliness of restaurants you eat in today.
Rating: 
Summary: Slim in Size and Content
Review: Bourdain's book is a quick, often entertaining read, but if you don't already know a great deal about Mary Mallon's time period (so that you can sift the book's bit of wheat from its abundant chaff) you'll be better off reading something by a real historian. Of course, Bourdain has never claimed to be one; dammit, Jim, he's a "cook," not a historian. Thus I can't fault him for cutting an anecdotal, simplified, cook's-eye-view swath through the complexities of the cultural and scientific past.
But I did find his self-satisfied style to be too rich for my taste; a little literary nouvelle cuisine would have suited my palate better. Bourdain comes across as just *way* too pleased with himself. I paid only six dollars for a remaindered copy of the book, so I don't feel cheated by what turned out to be an under-nourishing meal. But had I paid the original $20 list price for this little helping of authorial self-indulgence, I probably would.
Rating:
Summary: Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical
Review: From the best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential comes this true, thrilling tale of pursuit through the kitchens of New York City at the turn of the century.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok...
Review: I read this book for a project for a Criminalistics class for a Summer camp. I was looking forward to learning about Typhoid Mary and all about her problems as she lived her life carrying the deadly typhoid. I was a little disappointed to find out that a lot of the book was about the context of the life she lived in. I'm sure that for some...that would be a nice touch, but I was looking more forward to reading about the case than about society. But other than that, I thought it was a good read. I found myself laughing quite a bit, thanks to the clever way that Anthony Bourdain narrated this novel. Not a Number #1 choice...but not the worse i've read either. I'll let you decide.....
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but not great....
Review: I was a bit disappointed by this book, but yet I still really love Anthony Bourdain's writing style. Bourdain's writing style is the main reason I kept reading Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical. Anyone who's had to write essays for school (especially essays based on research to back up an opinion), will be familiar with the style of this book. Basically, Mary Mallon's story, which, admittedly is very brief and could fill up about 10 pages, is strewn throughout 144 pages of Bourdain's historical research, contemplation, and witticisms. While this is interesting, it's just not really all about Mary Mallon (aka Typhoid Mary). That's okay - if that's what you're expecting. If you like Bourdain's writing style and sense of humor, then you'll like this book. If you want to really learn about the person known as Typhoid Mary, then you can probably do that somewhere else and quicker. This book is definitely good for entertainment value, but being someone who's had to write many of those "let me back up my thoughts" essays for school, I can see one when I spot one, and Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical fits the bill.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but not great....
Review: I was a bit disappointed by this book, but yet I still really love Anthony Bourdain's writing style. Bourdain's writing style is the main reason I kept reading Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical. Anyone who's had to write essays for school (especially essays based on research to back up an opinion), will be familiar with the style of this book. Basically, Mary Mallon's story, which, admittedly is very brief and could fill up about 10 pages, is strewn throughout 144 pages of Bourdain's historical research, contemplation, and witticisms. While this is interesting, it's just not really all about Mary Mallon (aka Typhoid Mary). That's okay - if that's what you're expecting. If you like Bourdain's writing style and sense of humor, then you'll like this book. If you want to really learn about the person known as Typhoid Mary, then you can probably do that somewhere else and quicker. This book is definitely good for entertainment value, but being someone who's had to write many of those "let me back up my thoughts" essays for school, I can see one when I spot one, and Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical fits the bill.
Rating:
Summary: An energetic account of a willful woman
Review: In this diminutive book (amounting to fewer than 150 pages), the robust Bourdain tells the stormy story of 'Typhoid Mary' Mallon. The author and subject, it becomes clear, are much alike. Both are cooks, iconoclasts, and outsiders. The personalities of the two resonate with one another throughout. For the most part, this is a charitable portrait of a misunderstood woman, but Bourdain also admits that Mary had a misanthropic side. In the later part of her life, knowing she was a carrier of salmonella typhi, she worked as a cook at a hospital for women and children! At the same time, she had been wronged by the system -- treated unfairly because of her gender, her immigrant status, and her station in life. Bourdain successfully gets inside Mary's mind, and those of the bureaucrats who hounded her. His speculations on the inner thoughts of the players in this drama feel accurate. The mystery of Typhoid Mary is energetically brought to life in this wonderful account set in early-1900's New York.
Rating:
Summary: An old story from a new viewpoint
Review: In Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical, Anthony Bourdain combines his skills and experiences as a chef with his unique writing talents to bring to life an often feared individual. Mary Mallon a.k.a. "Typhoid Mary" was a cook not unlike Bourdain himself, thus he is especially qualified to speak on her behalf. Most other books regarding the subject matter are either epidemiological in nature, treating her as just another case history, or historical in nature, viewing her as just another in a long line of events and placing a vast gulf between the reader and Mary herself. Bourdain comes at it with a biographical bent. There is no science here. The author wants you to feel Mary's pain, her persecution (perceived or otherwise), her frustration with not being able to do the one thing she knew how to do in order to make a living, and Anthony does a wonderful job of it. It is a very quick read, but well worth it.
|
