First published 2022
Charles Leerhsen constructs an unauthorized portrait of Anthony Bourdain that strips away the television persona. The author conducted extensive interviews with people who knew Bourdain personally to uncover the man behind Kitchen Confidential and shows like No Reservations and Parts Unknown. Leerhsen argues that childhood traumas shaped both Bourdain's creative gifts and his destructive tendencies. The book traces how addiction and perfectionism destroyed two marriages and made Bourdain difficult to work with, even as audiences fell for his wit and empathy on screen. Leerhsen shows Bourdain at his peak already struggling physically and emotionally when he became involved with an Italian actress who distanced him from his daughter. The author connects previously unreported early experiences to the despair that led to Bourdain's 2018 suicide. Readers get the complete picture of how fame and personal demons collided in one man's life.
Genres: biography, addiction, memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, tragic-hero
320 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: addiction, depression, mental-illness, suicide