new reads

kitchen confidential, anthony bourdain (pj/NJ --> brian/NJ)
i love food. i love eating, i love cooking, i love food facts, i love everything about it. i heard about this book a few years ago, but it was portrayed more as a reference guide for diners, as a warning on what to eat and what not to eat. now, while there is mention of when is best to order fish, and how best to order your meat, this is really a small part of the book, and has much less impact than i assumed when beginning it. i was also under the impression that other cooks and chefs hated bourdain for giving away their "secrets." not only would i have doubted this after reading the book, but bourdain acknowledges this in his introduction, and shows nothing could be further from the truth. so, i've explained what this book is not about, now what is it really about?

for the most part, this is a drug and alcohol ridden stroll down memory lane for long time chef and food lover, anthony bourdain. stories of free sex and mafia- owned restaurants abound. it would seem that bourdain was no stranger to excessive derangement of the senses, regardless of whether he's working or not. most of the time he was. he also enjoys cutting down at the knees food network hacks and vegetarians alike. as i'm sure you can understand i did not necessarily aggree with the latter shots, but took them with a grain or two of salt, especially because i appreciate the fact that, for the most part, bourdain is an asshole. regardless, i enjoyed what he wrote, and the way it is written. if you like food, if you like sex, if you like drugs, then you'll definitely enjoy this book. so, you can say i definitely enjoyed this book.

the art of happiness, h.h. dalai lama and howard c. cutler
i have to admit that i was not exactly in the best state of mind when reading this, but perhaps it helped because of this. what i mean is that i was and have been a bit negative in my thoughts as of late, so reading a book about being happy and thinking positively allowed for plenty of cynicism. however, through the cynacism i did appreciate the simple, straight forward nature that the dalai lama mainains, and it allowed me to take something away without feeling like i was reading a self help book. one of my greatest friends, greg, read this book last year, and he recommended it highly, so i knew that there must be something wonderful inside. so, while i was perhaps not in the best mindset to read this, i definitely got something positive out of it, and i think that someone who is mentally and emotionally prepared to read this would greatly benefit from it.