The series Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown remains Anthony Bourdain's crowning achievement in terms of immediate on-screen presence, but his new posthumous book, World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, is a worthy companion piece that molds his TV itinerary into a literary form. Bourdain was a chef and celebrity personality, but increasingly a journalist. This was especially true on his final CNN series, where he explored the socio-political undercurrents, small businesses, and local lives of a region, while also featuring traditional cuisine and hotspots. He left behind an encyclopedic body of work that, while teeming with his wry energy and astute observation, always kept the focus on people and their respective cultures. There will be a documentary about his travels, Roadrunner, released this summer.
Bourdain first gained recognition as the executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles in NYC's Financial District. While there, he wrote his breakout work, Kitchen Confidential, a painstakingly honest exposé of the restaurant industry's toxic conditions. Bourdain's cultural impact subsequently took off with multiple book deals, nonfiction pieces in magazines, and successful TV shows like No Reservations, The Layover, and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. He hosted the last one up until his passing in 2018. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown was the culmination of his career. On the show, Bourdain was his usual charismatic self and his production team would adapt the cinematography to better suit the pulse of each destination. They would also orchestrate meetups for Bourdain with relevant cultural figures and locals, to discuss politics, art, traditions, stigmas, and, of course, food. Bourdain was also always happy to highlight hidden gems, such as small local businesses and activities.
Over the course of 12 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown seasons, there are too many insightful moments to count, which is where the recently published Irreverent Guide comes in. It expands on the show's legacy in ways that only a book can. Whereas the CNN series, which had 10 best episodes, featured Bourdain with a full camera crew at his disposal, the book focuses on Bourdain the writer. The late raconteur is positioned as an outsider intent on capturing the little nuances and specifics of his travels. It attempts to finish, within its 500 pages, what the TV series couldn't.
World Travel: An Irreverent Guide is messy, as travel plans often are. Bourdain is credited as the primary author since his quotes frame the book's chapters and locations. As the index outlines, it jumps from country to country and town to village. Bourdain's longtime collaborator and co-writer Laurie Woolever fills in gaps around his words. As Woolever states, "...these quotes have been pulled from a variety of sources, chief among them the written transcripts of his television shows...along with the various essays Tony wrote in support of certain episodes, and, on occasion, remarks he made to various publications about a specific person or place."
The book is more vignette than narrative. It's an anthology of "excerpts." Somehow, it works. There's the Buenos Aires subsection, where Bourdain mentions "an unassuming, family-run joint across from [La Bombonera] soccer stadium." What follows and surrounds this blurb is some context by Woolever, which describes the neighborhood, its demographics, and specifics about travel routes through the city. Another notable section is the much-copied (even by Gordon Ramsay) Bourdain's poetic description of the Himalayan country of Bhutan, supplemented by Woolever's information on tipping in the region, how much it costs to get around the area, and the currency conversion between rupees and USD.
Bourdain and Woolever's Irreverent Guide is a restless itinerary. As if mirroring actual experiences in an unfamiliar place, the book frantically voices Bourdain's insights for each destination before letting Woolever take over with all of the logistical details that one might want to know if they were interested in following in Bourdain's footsteps. For better or worse, it reads like an annotated diary. More importantly, as with other powerful tributes to Anthony Bourdain, it honors his TV legacy through its unusually specific sense of place, irreverent humor, and journalistic accuracy. In the spirit of Bourdain himself and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, it doesn't treat its readers like tourists.
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