Bone in the Throat

Gruesome, gristly, profane, provocative, and awfully funny. Bourdain has a talent for dialog, for setting the scene and for making the macabre comical. This crime novel is not for the squeamish, and beyond the butchery one expects from mob hits, it includes some kitchen shenanigans that will make you want to eat in for a while. I understand this was written (or at least published) before Bourdain's non-fiction Kitchen Confidential, but it describes many of the same behind-the-scenes restaurant practices with a potful of mayhem thrown in for good measure.

Regular readers of this page might remember a few weeks ago, I reviewed Tony Bourdain's non-fiction book about working in restaurants. I started then looking for his two mysteries and finally found them when they were recently re-issued. This one is great. Tommy Pagana grew up on the fringe of the mob. He's an up and coming chef who's not interested in entering the family business. But, it's an uphill battle. The real gem in this book are the characters and the way the author makes them rise up off the page. This guy knows how to write.

OK, so Tony can write a mystery. Could, I mean...still get emotion thinking about the fact he is not with us anymore.

this was a great book. I listened to it on audible and the narrator really did al the accents and different voices SO well. In fact, he was so good that when he would read a part that was narration only and not character driver, I was shocked at what his voice sounded like. The story begins with the "murder". That is not unusual, but the way Tony handled it set the build up throughout the story. Right up front, you have an FBI agent punch an ASA. As the story builds you start to figure somethings out and that sets up a lot of moments where you start to fear for the lives of different people. There were a few times I show more started bargaining for the lives of my two favorite people.

I would have liked a few more pages at the end, but that is because I love a nice bow tied.

If you are like me and has no idea Tony wrote fiction, you REALLY should read or listen to this one. show less

Muito se tem falado do Anthony Bourdain nos últimos tempos, principalmente com a sua recente vinda ao nosso país. Embora não o tenha descoberto agora, não posso dizer que seja um seguidor. Isto é, vejo o "No Reservations" sempre que me lembro e gosto do que vejo. O problema é que nem sempre me lembro. No entanto, apesar de já conhecer o Anthony Bourdain há algum tempo, este livro obriga-me a ficar ao lado daqueles que só agora aprenderam que ele existe. Sou sincero: sabia que ele era um chef de cozinha; não fazia ideia que era um chef da escrita.

"Bone in the throat", ou "Osso na garganta",como se chamará, mais dia menos dia, a edição portuguesa (não é um palpite, é uma esperança de publicação), é um livro com show more óptimos ingredientes: bons personagens, excelentes diálogos, bastante acção, humor, morte, culinária e máfia.

A história gira em torno de Tommy Pagano, um cozinheiro, cujo tio Sally pertence à Máfia. Tommy não quer ter nada a ver com esses negócios, mas quando aceita fazer-lhe um favor, vê-se no meio duma investigação da polícia e do FBI ao seu tio Sally e restantes amigos mafiosos.

Julgo, no entanto, que a melhor frase que define este livro (e que foi a frase que me chamou primeiro à atenção; ainda antes de ler o enredo), publicada pela revista MAXIM, é "Goodfellas meets Masterchef". E é isto. Pensem no Goodfellas, aquele bom filme com o Joe Pesci, o Roberto DeNiro, o Ray Liotta e tantos outros, juntem-no com o Masterchef e ficam com 350 páginas muito, muito divertidas.

Dica para quem quiser adquirir um exemplar deste livro. Além das habituais lojas online, pode ir à Bertrand do Chiado. Está lá 5,50€. Perdoem-me a alusão gratuita a essa livraria (não sou funcionário, nem accionista, apenas cliente esporádico), mas é por uma boa causa. show less

I'm probably being generous with this review, because I am such a fan of Anthony Bourdain himself, but Bone in the Throat is...ummm...well, it's not terrible. For the most part, anyway. It's a mystery novel sans mystery (it's a suspense novel with "mystery" stamped on the back) where a young man with a criminal uncle gets roped into doing a favor that results in him witnessing a gruesome murder. Tommy, the young man, just wants to be a chef, but now his life is spinning out of control as he finds himself in over his head with the mafia.

A few hundred pages of mystery (suspense!) later, I can't say I didn't like the book. There was some success in creating tension (also known as suspense) and I was genuinely concerned for Tommy and his show more chef. I also appreciated the culinary aspect of the novel knowing Bourdain's background.

What it lacks in is substance. I mean sure, it has everything you would expect from the author, like profuse vulgarity, food porn, gangsters, smutty sex, and lots of cocaine...but it's like being served a plate full of garnish. I'm staring at an empty plate and I'm not feeling terribly satisfied.

The book wasn't a total train wreck, however, so I won't rule out any of his other books for future reading, but so far I'm thinking Anthony Bourdain should stick to writing nonfiction. show less

Quella simpatica canaglia di Bourdain è riuscito ancora una volta a tenermi incollato ad un suo libro. Temevo che Bourdain non reggesse la prova di un romanzo (questo e' il primo romanzo suo che leggo), e invece... Chapeau!!! "Bone in the Throat" non brilla certo per l'originalità della trama, ma chi, come me, è rimasto affascinato e divertito dalle situazioni raccontate in "Kitchen Confidential", rimarrà stregato da questo mafia-noir ambientato tra i fornelli ed insaporito dall'inconfondibile stile tagliente e dissacrante del cuoco-scrittore.

Chose to read this as a tribute to the late, great Anthony Bourdain, as I had never read any of his fiction. I had only read his non-fiction works about cooking and eating

Wonderful culinary romp through the mob-controlled restaurants of Manhattan. More blood and gore than I usually enjoy, but pertinent to the story. Hilarious in places, and infuriating in places. Loved reading the book. It would make a great film.
What a loss that he is no longer with us. RIP Anthony Bordain.