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Bourdain : the definitive oral biography

Woolever, Laurie. (Author).

An unprecedented behind-the-scenes view into the life of Anthony Bourdain from the people who knew him best... When Anthony Bourdain died in June 2018, fans around the globe came together to celebrate the life of an inimitable man who had dedicated his life to traveling nearly everywhere (and eating nearly everything), shedding light on the lives and stories of others. His impact was outsized and his legacy has only grown since his death. Now, for the first time, we have been granted a look into Bourdain's life through the stories and recollections of his closest friends and colleagues. Laurie Woolever, Bourdain's longtime assistant and confidante, interviewed nearly a hundred of the people who shared Tony's orbit--from members of his kitchen crews to his writing, publishing, and television partners, to his daughter and his closest friends--in order to piece together a remarkably full, vivid, and nuanced vision of Tony's life and work. From his childhood and teenage days, to his early years in New York, through the genesis of his game-changing memoir Kitchen Confidential to his emergence as a writing and television personality, and in the words of friends and colleagues... as well as family members including his brother and his late mother, we see the many sides of Tony--his motivations, his ambivalence, his vulnerability, his blind spots, and his brilliance.

Book  - 2021
641.5092 Bourd-W
1 copy / 0 on hold

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  • ISBN: 9780062909107
  • Physical Description xviii, 442 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm
  • Edition First edition.
  • Publisher [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 2021.

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General Note:
Includes index.

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Syndetic Solutions - Table of Contents for ISBN Number 9780062909107
Bourdain : The Definitive Oral Biography
Bourdain : The Definitive Oral Biography
by Woolever, Laurie
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Table of Contents

Bourdain : The Definitive Oral Biography

SectionSection DescriptionPage Number
Cast of Characters (in order of first appearance)p. x
Introductionp. xv
1"I Absolutely Always Saw a Talent in Him": Early Lifep. 1
2"Super Smart, Super Funny": The Teenage Yearsp. 7
3"A Lot of Fun to Be Around": Young Adulthoodp. 17
4"It Was What the Cool Kids Were Doing": The Early New York Yearsp. 23
5"He Just Wanted to Be a Writer in the Worst Way": Meeting Joel Rosep. 39
6"They Got Some Money, and It Just Went into Their Veins": Heroinp. 43
7"I'm Tony Motherfucking Bourdain-You Got a Problem?": New York in the Ninetiesp. 49
8"Such Was My Lust to See My Name in Print"p. 55
9"Appalling Stories of Remorseless Criminality": The Stone Brothersp. 59
10"You've Got a Long Con Going Here": The Genesis of Kitchen Confidentialp. 65
11"It Was Picking Up a Rock Off the Restaurant Scene and Showing Everything That Was Underneath It"p. 69
12"He Was Not Just a Cook Anymore; He Was a Real 3D Person"p. 73
13"I'm Not Gonna Censor the Guy": Editing and Publishing Kitchen Confidentialp. 79
14"The Brass Ring Comes Around Only Once"p. 85
15"He Never Came Off Book Tour"p. 91
16"I'd Love to Travel the World": A Cook's Tour Beginsp. 97
17"Tony Was So Reluctant to Do Television"p. 103
18"He Was Ahead of His Time": The End of A Cook's Tourp. 117
19"He Was Prepared to Piss Off Everybody": Travel Channelp. 123
20"He Was Very Untethered": The Early No Reservations Yearsp. 129
21"Basically, He Kidnapped My Cat": Tony Meets Ottaviap. 139
22"Let's Spin the Wheel Again": Beirut, a Babyp. 143
23"It Was Not the Easiest Thing": Life on the Road as a Familyp. 149
24"Don't Bother Tony": Navigating Friendships and Famep. 155
25"We Got Shit Done": Making No Reservationsp. 167
26"You See a Person Who's Come Full Circle, and He's Seen the World": Medium Rawp. 179
27"I Knew I Could Write the Story I Needed to Write": Tony as Publisher, Graphic Novelist, and Screenwriterp. 183
28"I Felt Like I Knew Him All My Life": David Simon Recalls Tonyp. 193
29"He Could Have Sat in a Santa's Throne in a Shopping Mall": The Onstage Experiencep. 197
30"He Was a Curator of People"p. 205
31"He Was a Man of Extremes"p. 215
32"Darker, More Transgressive, and More Lurid": Roads & Kingdomsp. 221
33"Everyone Felt They Knew Him": Charisma and Reservep. 227
34"Get a Big Fucking Body Bag": Frustration and Isolation in the Fieldp. 233
35"Tony Had a Burden of Leadership That Was Real"p. 245
36"He Always Had to Perform the Role of Tony"p. 251
37"Such an Unlikely Program for Him": The Tastep. 259
38"Push the Boundary Really Hard, Really Fast": The Move to CNNp. 265
39"I Really Wasn't Doing It for the Cronut": Tony Tries a Talk Showp. 275
40"Middle-Class White People Going to Poverty-Stricken Parts of the World ... without Being Dicks about It"p. 279
41"It Was Too Much of a Dream": The Bourdain Marketp. 283
42"You Don't Direct Tony Bourdain": Life on the Road with Parts Unknownp. 289
43"You Were That Guy Who Got Arrested": Jason and Yeganeh Rezaian in Iranp. 311
44"This Is Just Another Tribe": Brazilian Jiu-Jirsup. 321
45"Maybe You'll Find Another Chance at Love": The End of the Marriagep. 331
46"Tony's Changed; Tony's Very Different Now"p. 337
47"He Was Attracted to Chaos"p. 351
48"They're Gonna Tear You Apart": Alienating Friendsp. 355
49"He Was Like a Young Kid in Love"p. 363
50"Every Good Band Eventually Breaks Up"p. 371
51"Embracing the Chaos": Rome and Pugliap. 375
52"We Bolstered Each Other's Incorrect Assertion That Asking for Help Is Somehow a Mistake"p. 379
53"Call It Impostor Syndrome, If You Want, but Tony Definitely Had It"p. 383
54"We Should Do Something Together": Kenya with W. Kamau Bellp. 387
55"I Knew Someone Was Doomed": Hong Kongp. 393
56"You Can't Put Your Arms around a Memory": New York, Asturias, Florencep. 403
57"All OK": Alsacep. 411
58"It's Hard to See Things as They Really Are"p. 417
59"He Was an Extraordinary Witness and Voice for the World"p. 431
Acknowledgmentsp. 437
Index of Contributorsp. 439