Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Reading this was a stark reminder that he is, in fact, no longer here. This is an AB book clearly written without AB. His voice just isn’t present in this work - it doesn’t read like him. The introduction talks about his significant cultural impact and the body of the book does nothing to show us why. Most of the book is dry, expositional content - it contains information in a place you’d never actually turn to as a resource if you needed the information in the first place. AB was a storyteller and this book doesn’t tell a story - it contains information that a reasonable person would google interspersed with quotes from some of his TV shows. I don’t want to read about Argentinian bus lines, or how to get to and from the airport, or a reminder that crossing international boundaries requires proper paperwork and a pass through customs. This book has no narrative value nor is it valuable as an actual travel guide - half the information is already outdated between the time the words were written and the time they were printed. It would be like hanging a dry erase board and trying to re-write the time every second instead of just buying a clock. The idea for this book was clearly in its infancy when the author discussed it with Bourdain. I’m sure she did her best to try and extrapolate what he envisioned for the book, but this feels far off the mark. In the introduction she says that the basis for this book was an hour long conversation she had one night with Bourdain; if he were still alive, this would have been a very different book and that’s why it never should have been promoted as a collaboration with him. The feeling of reading this book is evocative of watching a cover band do a bad rendition of your favorite songs. His lack of input is evident. His absence is never felt more strongly than in these pages. I was hoping for some of his unreleased writings, some more of his worldview, some more of his insight. If you’re considering buying this because you’re a fan of Bourdain’s work, I would pass because I didn’t feel him at all in this book. It doesn’t even feel like a tribute to his past work due to its eminently unreadable, textbook-like execution. This feels like exactly the type of thing that would have provoked his derision. It is a major disappointment.