The Anthony Bourdain Reader review undiscovered gems from the charismatic chef turned writer

"Think Anthony Bourdain and a whole rush of TV memories flood back. There he is in shows such as Parts Unknown and No Reservations a gonzo gourmand trekking to backstreet nooks and favela hideouts in parts of the world where celebrity chefs fear to tread. In Beirut and Congo; savouring calamari and checking out graffiti in Tripoli; slurping rice noodles and necking bottles of cold beer with Barack Obama in Hanoi, Vietnam."

"Things turned around after the publication in 2000 of his bestselling memoir Kitchen Confidential. It portrayed New York's restaurants as sweatshops, military trenches, last chance saloons for a whole bevy of social misfits. For Bourdain they were refuges. A teenager who'd been into Abbie Hoffman and Eldridge Cleaver, he later became a heroin addict, a fan of the Ramones and the Voidoids, a dive bar denizen."

"His mother was an editor at the New York Times, and his youthful crushes were mostly beatniks and outlaws Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Lester Bangs, Hunter S Thompson. (Orwell too especially his account of a dishwasher's life in Down and Out in Paris and London.) A college dropout, he later signed up for a writing workshop with famed editor Gordon Lish. His earliest bylines appeared in arty, downtown publications; two crime novels (Bone in the Throat, Gone Bamboo) got decent reviews but sold poorly."

Anthony Bourdain hosted Parts Unknown and No Reservations, traveling to backstreet nooks and favela hideouts where celebrity chefs rarely ventured. He sampled local foods across Beirut, Congo, Tripoli and Hanoi, often sharing meals and drinks with locals and notable figures like Barack Obama. He maintained a strong literary orientation, idolizing beat and outsider writers and attending a workshop with editor Gordon Lish. Early crime novels received decent reviews but limited sales; his 2000 memoir Kitchen Confidential became a bestseller and cast restaurants as sweatshops and refuges for misfits. He struggled with heroin addiction and a punk, dive-bar lifestyle while mourning New York's gentrification. He later gained his own publishing imprint and expanded his cultural influence through television and books.

Read at www.theguardian.com