# Anthony Bourdain Medium Raw disappointed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688 "2010-12-29T06:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gone2thedogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@gone2thedogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gone2thedogs)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/1 "2010-12-29T06:13:43Z")
Loved Kitchen Confidential. This reads like a really induglent piece of crap. He’s trying to be a gonzo writer, which he was in the previous book. but this is just pretentious. i’m glad my nieces and nephews realized i like him and bought this book for my christmas present, but now i wish they had gotten me the keith richards bio… ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/2 "2010-12-29T13:15:34Z")
I felt just the opposite. I thought his writing had matured and he wasn’t trying so hard, more relaxed and, oddly, confident. I have a feeling you enjoyed the content of the content of the first more. I had a friend read Medium Raw first and ask for more, so I lent him Confidential. He didn’t finish it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/3 "2010-12-29T13:38:42Z")
I loved both of them although I listened to _Medium Raw_ rather than read it. He’s a nice guy. When I met him at a literary lunch he autographed my books and drew little pictures in them, even though I hadn’t bought them at the event. He was quite happy to chat to the bunch of drunks at our table that stayed back pilfering all the wine. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/4 "2010-12-29T13:46:30Z")
I liked _Kitchen Confidential_ a lot. _Medium Raw_ was more a split decision. I thought the beginning was good and the end was even better, but the middle seemed to bog down with repeated versions of I thought this chef/restaurant was all about style and pompous, but he/she can really cook. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/5 "2010-12-29T14:08:13Z")
I liked _Medium Raw_ quite a bit. I did start listening to _Kitchen Confidential_ but haven’t gotten into much and (on audio) it’s already feeling a little flat compared to his reading of _Medium Raw_. In MR, I loved the part with Sandra Lee at the bar and the whole Food Network drama. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/6 "2010-12-29T16:28:07Z")
I’m nearing the end of the middle currently, and it does bog down. The beginning was fantastic however. The chapters in the middle section start to feel really random - like he dictated it from his deathbed or something. I’d say the Alice Waters and hamburger chapters are the highlights of the middle portion. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/7 "2010-12-29T16:39:19Z")
The bit with the fish-cutting guy (ETA which was towards the end) was awesome. The rest was pleasant enough airplane reading. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/8 "2010-12-29T18:45:00Z")
> [@gone2thedogs](#): > > Loved Kitchen Confidential. This reads like a really induglent piece of crap. He’s trying to be a gonzo writer, which he was in the previous book. but this is just pretentious… I agree—Anthony Bourdain tries way to hard, and seemingly has a need to constantly remind the world that he is still a dangerous and edgy proto-punker who has not been softened by success. Kind of sad really, like seeing Johnny Rotten pull down his pants at 60 years old… ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/9 "2010-12-29T19:15:27Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I agree—Anthony Bourdain tries way to hard, and seemingly has a need to constantly remind the world that he is still a dangerous and edgy proto-punker who has not been softened by success. Maybe it doesn’t come through in the book, but I saw him live about a month before the book came out, and that’s not how he views himself at all. He said basically that if the Travel Channel wants to advertise him as “edgy” that’s fine with him, but he admits that he’s softened a lot since becoming a dad. He quit smoking, he allows product placement on the show (so he can pay for his daughter to go to a better school), and he doesn’t hate on Rachel Ray (or a lot of the earlier Food Network chefs) anymore. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-bourdain-medium-raw-disappointed/565688/10 "2010-12-30T01:38:30Z")
**MPB in Salt Lake** obviously didn’t read the book, or he’d know that Bourdain speaks at length about how ironic it is that he frequents an expensive Italian market with his wife to buy “only the best” foods for his little girl. He’s in no way trying to prove he’s “tough and edgy”; he’s fully embracing dancing with his daughter in public, trying to provide her with a real father figure. Nobody tries to prove how tough they are by talking about dancing with a bunch of preschool girls. I liked it, but I went into the book having watched his show soften with age over the years and realizing that 10 years out of the kitchen and money will soften anyone. I liked the part with the fish guy the best (though I think he pities him a little too much; the guy does have full health care and makes 6 figures a year, and has (IIRC) citizenship procured by the restaurant). The rest of the book was pleasant enough.