Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain
First edition
AuthorCharles Leershen
LanguageEnglish
SubjectAnthony Bourdain
GenreBiography
PublisherSimon & Schuster
Published in English
October 11, 2022

Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain by Charles Leershen is a 2022 unauthorized biography of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.[1][2][3][4][5]

Critical reception

Slate wrote "A solidly researched and, despite its press, not especially lurid biography, Down and Out in Paradise has a stubborn resistance to psychologizing its subject that—along with the use of such antique terms as "the boob tube" and "red-blooded American male"—gives it a dated air. It reads as if it were written in 1999, the year that Bourdain's life changed as a result of the publication of Don't Eat Before Reading This, the sensational New Yorker article that became the basis for his bestselling book, 2000's Kitchen Confidential."[6]

The New York Times said in its review "Down and Out in Paradise is not the most subtle thing you'll ever read. Leerhsen is a former executive editor at Sports Illustrated whose previous books include biographies of Ty Cobb and Butch Cassidy. His Bourdain book goes down like a mass-market rock bio. I'd have loved it if I were 17. The author goes all in on Bourdain's angst, his instinctive distrust of authority, his hero-worship of talented outsiders like Hunter S. Thompson and Iggy Pop and William S. Burroughs."[7]

The Los Angeles Times wrote "Down and Out is a suicide whodunit framed as a biography; some of the many friends and family who declined to speak with Leerhsen have claimed that much in the book is inaccurate. Still, it reads as a sincere, if single-minded, attempt to look at the actual events of Bourdain's life."[8]

The Guardian wrote "For all its perceptiveness, Down and Out in Paradise is marred by its tendency to constantly tie Bourdain's life to the circumstances of his death: the book returns frequently to the subject, constantly foreshadows it, and closes, somewhat abruptly, with his funeral. That short-changes Bourdain."[9]

References

  1. ↑ Severson, Kim (September 27, 2022). "The Last, Painful Days of Anthony Bourdain". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ Saad, Nardine (September 29, 2022). "Author responds to family's unrest over controversial new Anthony Bourdain book". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ↑ Langmann, Brady (September 27, 2022). "A New Anthony Bourdain Biography Reveals His Final, Heartbreaking Texts". Esquire.
  4. ↑ Wright, Tracy (September 28, 2022). "Anthony Bourdain's family and friends slam unauthorized bio that includes late celebrity chef's final texts". Fox News.
  5. ↑ Kaplan, Anna (September 28, 2022). "New book reveals details about Anthony Bourdain's final hours". Today.
  6. ↑ Miller, Laura (October 13, 2022). "The Chef Who Became a Brand". Slate.
  7. ↑ Garner, Dwight (October 3, 2022). "New Anthony Bourdain Biography: Light on Subtlety, Heavy on Grit". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ McNamra, Mary (October 3, 2022). "Column: 'Blonde' and the new Anthony Bourdain book are suicide whodunits in which the answer is obvious". Los Angeles Times.
  9. ↑ Conroy, J Oliver (October 14, 2022). "Down and Out in Paradise review – a disservice to Anthony Bourdain". The Guardian.
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