In Part
Two of A Cook's Tour, I found myself
feeling confused. I'd seen all the various "Tonys" described in the
last chapter of the book: "the brutish, obsessive, blustering blowhard
control freak," and "the needy, neurotic, eager-to-please,
talk-in-sound-bits Writer Tony," as well as "the relatively calm,
blissed-out, sun stroked amiable Husband Tony" (273). To be honest, I was glad Bourdain owned up to
all of these various personality types right before the book ended, because I
was starting to really dislike him.
When I
began reading A Cook's Tour, I really
admired Bourdain. He seemed honest and trustworthy, friendly even. As the book
wore on, however, I became more and more irritated with his aggression towards
all things vegan, vegetarian, and smoke free. As a sufferer of chronic asthma,
I was shocked at his disregard for the impact second-hand smoke can have on the
health of others. Bourdain says he's "considerate" of others when he
smokes, but continues in the following sentences to explain that, "Though
bitterly resentful that I can no longer enjoy a cigarette with my fucking
coffee in most places, I've learned to live with it. But the bar? The bar! What these miserable screw heads
are saying is that it's OK to kill yourself with bourbon and tequila at nine
o'clock in the morning--just don't enjoy yourself when doing it" (232). I
understand that it may be difficult to be told to refrain from something you
really enjoy, but Bourdain offended me here.
Perhaps I
just don't completely grasp his point of view, but I really think he may have
taken the smoking rampage too far. My opinion may also have been pushed when I
watched him smoke at least five different cigarettes during the A Cook's Tour episode where he and his
brother go to France. My lungs started hurting just watching him remove
cigarette after cigarette from each new pack.
I think
my regard for Bourdain shifted most with his outlast towards vegetarians and
vegans. While I tried to understand his distaste for veggie habits from a
chef's perspective, I really thought he was just being unreasonably mean to
people who simply regarded food differently than he did.
Bourdain's
discussion of femininity throughout the book brought me to a breaking point in
the second half. I cringed every time I read "whore." I cringed a
lot. Bourdain didn't show much respect for women unless they were cooking. Even
his love for Madame Ngoc seemed to be a result of her maternal tendencies
towards him. "We all love Madame Ngoc, and we think she loves us
too," he writes. While this part of the book was undisputably
heart-warming and tender, I wished Bourdain would have shown the same level of
respect to all women he referenced in the book rather than simply commenting on
their body type and breast size.
Perhaps
I'm exaggerating. I truly enjoyed reading A
Cook's Tour. I loved Bourdain's discussion of food and the chefs he
admired. I think I just took the last half of the book very seriously and
personally. The aggressive, blustering, adrenaline junkie Tony simply wasn't to
my liking. However, I appreciate the beautiful writing and appreciation for
food he so clearly displayed throughout this book. I'm even glad he revealed
the parts of him I didn't love. It's helpful to recognize that the writers,
chefs, and television personalities I love and admire have yucky aspects to
their personalities, just like I'm sure I do.
Absolutely bizarre how similar our responses are! There is definitely that confusion of, "Do i actually like this guy or not?" It was very difficult to grapple with that toward the end of the book/make the end enjoyable.
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