Rating: 
Summary: Nice Culinary/Wiseguy Combo
Review: "Two-hundred-and-eighty-pound Salvatore Pitera, in a powder-blue jogging suit and tinted aviator glasses, stepped out of Frank's Original Pizza onto Spring Street. He had a slice of pizza in one hand, too hot to eat, and he was blowing on it as he waddled through traffic." That's the first sentence in the book, if you like it, you'll like this breezy debut which weaves cuisine and wiseguys into a satisfying little tale of crime. The author does a nice job of capturing the nuances of wiseguy speech and the culinary arts while telling the tale of one neighborhood guy trying to make a go of it outside the "family business." Followed by the less-satisfying "Gone Bamboo," which picks up where this leaves off.
Rating: 
Summary: What Fun!
Review: Anthony Bourdain has struck gold with his venture into fiction writing. Bone in the Throat is a wonderfully delightful romp through the world of mobsters and food service, which Bourdain has done a masterful job of intertwining. Not being personally inclined to read much fiction, I read this based on the quality of Bourdain's non-fiction works, and was very pleased. I'm looking forward to reading his other fiction work, Gone Bamboo, and am anxiously hoping that he writes some more, be it fiction or non-fiction. This guy has got real talent!
Rating:
Summary: What Fun!
Review: Anthony Bourdain has struck gold with his venture into fiction writing. Bone in the Throat is a wonderfully delightful romp through the world of mobsters and food service, which Bourdain has done a masterful job of intertwining. Not being personally inclined to read much fiction, I read this based on the quality of Bourdain's non-fiction works, and was very pleased. I'm looking forward to reading his other fiction work, Gone Bamboo, and am anxiously hoping that he writes some more, be it fiction or non-fiction. This guy has got real talent!
Rating:
Summary: The Chef and the Mob
Review: Anthony Bourdain, by trade an executive chef in NYC, has written a behind the scenes look at restaurants, with a few members of the mob, the FBI, and other assorted law enforcement agencies thrown in the pot. Bourdain spices up this tale of a young chef caught up in a FBI sting operation targeted at organized crime in NYC with numerous scenes of mouth watering food preparation scenes. The mob characters sometimes behave too much like cartoon versions of the real thing, but the young protoganist, an aspiring chef who happens to be the nephew of mobster Sally Wig (an overweight loan shark, knee breaker, and sloppy eater) is written as a real character looking to escape from his "Family" roots. The frequenly humorous plot is mixed with occasional violence, several interesting supporting characters, and more than a few things you probably don't want to know about restaurants.
Rating:
Summary: If he cooks as well as he writes . . .
Review: As the NYTBR said, this is a "deliciously depraved" novel. Tommy Pagana is a young sous-chef in an okay Manhattan restaurant. He likes his work, he hopes he has a future both with his career and with Cheryl the waitress, and he has tried for years to distance himself from his mobster relatives and their friends -- especially his Uncle Salvatore, a mid-level wiseguy who yearns to be "straightened out" by the higher-ups. The restaurant is run by Harvey, a Jewish ex-dentist who's into the local mob for serious money, plus he has another loan from a turf-encroaching bunch from Brooklyn. Only Harvey is also an informant for the FBI, which is trying to stir things up just to see what shakes loose. Then there's Michael the junkie chef, Tommy's friend and boss, who is also put to work by the feds, and there's Al the special agent, who really doesn't care what happens to any of them as long as they bring him something to make a case out of. Then Uncle Sally pushes the reluctant Tommy into allowing him to use the restaurant for a secret meeting -- which turns into a homicide, witnessed by Tommy, . . . who is now also a person of interest to law enforcement. What to do? How to stay both alive and out of prison, yet not have to rat out his uncle, which would break his mother's heart? These hoods aren't Donald Westlake's comic bumblers, either. In fact, their workaday attitude toward what they do, including murder, is what makes them decidedly scary. (The NYPD detectives, on the other hand, hardly come off as Lenny Brisco. . . .) Bourdain has a real ear for the nuances of New York style and conversation, plus a gift for describing life in the kitchen, that make the whole thing ring true. So why hasn't this terrific book been made into a film?
Rating:
Summary: If he cooks as well as he writes . . .
Review: As the NYTBR said, this is a "deliciously depraved" novel. Tommy Pagana is a young sous-chef in an okay Manhattan restaurant. He likes his work, he hopes he has a future both with his career and with Cheryl the waitress, and he has tried for years to distance himself from his mobster relatives and their friends -- especially his Uncle Salvatore, a mid-level wiseguy who yearns to be "straightened out" by the higher-ups. The restaurant is run by Harvey, a Jewish ex-dentist who's into the local mob for serious money, plus he has another loan from a turf-encroaching bunch from Brooklyn. Only Harvey is also an informant for the FBI, which is trying to stir things up just to see what shakes loose. Then there's Michael the junkie chef, Tommy's friend and boss, who is also put to work by the feds, and there's Al the special agent, who really doesn't care what happens to any of them as long as they bring him something to make a case out of. Then Uncle Sally pushes the reluctant Tommy into allowing him to use the restaurant for a secret meeting -- which turns into a homicide, witnessed by Tommy, . . . who is now also a person of interest to law enforcement. What to do? How to stay both alive and out of prison, yet not have to rat out his uncle, which would break his mother's heart? These hoods aren't Donald Westlake's comic bumblers, either. In fact, their workaday attitude toward what they do, including murder, is what makes them decidedly scary. (The NYPD detectives, on the other hand, hardly come off as Lenny Brisco. . . .) Bourdain has a real ear for the nuances of New York style and conversation, plus a gift for describing life in the kitchen, that make the whole thing ring true. So why hasn't this terrific book been made into a film?
Rating:
Summary: Fast paced good read
Review: Bourdain's first fiction book is right on. I liked the plot flow and the characters are all pretty believable. Nicely paced and not too far fetched. Looking forward to reading "Going Bamboo" next. I also enjoy his show on the food network. I think that Bourdain will have a long career in the literary field. Some other reviews didn't like the ending of this book but I found it fine.
Rating: 
Summary: It was good to read on a long plane ride, but beyond that...
Review: It's clear that what Bourdain writes about best are: 1) descriptions of cooking (note the descriptions of making fish soup and the debate about beurre blanc); 2) methadone programs; and 3) the use of the "f" word as every part of speech.The plot in this book is weak which is tolerable if the rest of the features of the book make up for it. But they don't. The disappointment is that the book ends as if Bourdain just decided to stop writing as opposed to any coming together of events. Parts of the book are very funny, but Bourdain's writing is terribly uneven. At times he'll provide terrific descriptions of something, and other times he gives a sparse view. Read it at the beach or on a long trip. Borrow someone else's copy.
Rating:
Summary: Good simple read
Review: It's pretty much Kitchen Confidential with a mob plot thrown in. His knowledge of resturaunt operations come through very clear and told with a lot of detail. Don't expect this one to win any literary awards but if you have a little time to kill this is a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Good simple read
Review: It's pretty much Kitchen Confidential with a mob plot thrown in. His knowledge of resturaunt operations come through very clear and told with a lot of detail. Don't expect this one to win any literary awards but if you have a little time to kill this is a good read.
|
