Anthony bourdain biography book

When Anthony Bourdain died by suicide in 2018, millions of fans paid emotional tribute to a man who showed them the world.

If you want to get a feel for how much he meant to people, just check on his last Instagram post, which even now, almost four years after his death, receives daily comments from people still grieving his loss.

While millions of viewers tuned in religiously to watch his globetrotting culinary adventures, many are just now discovering the talent that took him from the kitchen to our hearts—writing.

And he wrote far more than burning critiques of the restaurant industry. Included in his bibliography are comedic crime novels, cookbooks, and even comics!

In this post, we’ll explore all 14 of his books so you can see just how dynamic his talent was.

Anthony Bourdain Books

Here are all of Anthony Bourdain’s published books, in chronological order.

1. Bone in the Throat (1995)

Many people may not know that Anthony Bourdain’s first published book was actually a novel, but they’ll surely recognize his wry humor even in fiction.

This satirical mafia tale follows Tommy, who works as a sous chef at his uncle’s restaurant in Little Italy.

When the mob decides to use the restaurant’s kitchen for a murder, Tommy finds himself caught between the FBI and his eccentric wise-guy superiors. He’ll struggle to do do right by his conscience while trying not to get killed at the same time.

2. Gone Bamboo (1997)

In Bourdain’s second dark-humor crime thriller, we meet Henry Denard, a CIA-trained assassin looking to retire in the Caribbean with his killer wife Frances.

The only problem is that he may have slightly messed up his last assignment, letting Donnie Wicks, the guy whom mobster Jimmy Pazz hired him to kill, escape with his life.

When Donnie turns government witness and gets relocated to Saint Martin—where Henry thought he could enjoy a peaceful retirement—Jimmy Pazz comes for both men, and paradise gets a lot more complicated.

3. Kitchen Confidential (2000)

Kitchen Confidential is the much longer follow-up to Bourdain’s groundbreaking 1999 article “Don’t Eat Before Reading This,” published in the New Yorker when he was still a relatively unknown chef.

The book reveals what really goes on behind kitchen doors with wild-but-true secrets of the restaurant business, including his own tales of drugs, sex, and haute cuisine.

4. Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical (2001)

In this work of historical nonfiction, Bourdain presents Mary Mallon—the infamous “Typhoid Mary”—as an innocent carrier who works as a household helper and restaurant cook, unwittingly spreading disease along the way.

Identified as patient zero of Typhoid Fever in New York at the turn of the 20th century, several outbreaks were traced to her, but Bourdain reminds us of the horrifying kitchen conditions of the time that allowed for the deadly spread of disease.

5. A Cook’s Tour (2001)

This is the book that introduced Bourdain to the world as a travel writer, ultimately landing him his first TV gig on the Food Network.

Inspired by the question, “What would be the perfect meal?,” Tony sets out on a quest that turns the notion of “perfection” on its head.

From California to Cambodia, Bourdain chronicles his culinary adventures, from eating a still-beating snake heart in Saigon to dining with Russian gangsters in Moscow.

6. The Bobby Gold Stories (2003)

In Bourdain’s third novel, we meet Bobby Gold, a lovable criminal who’s just been released from prison after serving ten years.

But Bobby’s new job in the club and restaurant business gets derailed when he falls for Nikki, the club’s cook, who’s definitely not in his territory.

7. Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook (2004)

For years, Anthony Bourdain was an executive chef at Manhattan’s Les Halles, known for serving some of the best French brasserie food in New York.

Here, Bourdain takes the intimidation out of French cooking, teaching you everything you need to know to prepare classic French bistro fare, including roasted veal short ribs, steak frites, and escargots aux noix.

8. The Nasty Bits (2006)

In his return to gritty kitchen lit, Anthony shares 37 essays and stories reflecting on his worldwide misadventures and the not-so-glamorous side of making television.

The essays are broken into categories of salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. From celebrating restaurant dish washers to confessing his guilt over killing lobsters, Bourdain brings together the best of his previously uncollected nonfiction for fans to feast on.

9. No Reservations (2007)

As a companion to his wildly popular Travel Channel show of the same name, this book is Bourdain’s fully illustrated journal of his globetrotting adventures, taking readers from New Zealand to New Jersey and everywhere in between.

Fans of the show will enjoy this behind-the-scenes look that offers a taste of what it was like to travel the world with the icon.

10. Medium Raw (2010)

For his second memoir, Bourdain takes a somewhat gentler approach compared to Kitchen Confidential, but he still takes aim at some of the biggest names in the culinary world, including David Chang, Alice Waters, and Top Chef winners and losers.

He also reflects on how the restaurant industry has changed in the ten years since he published Kitchen Confidential.

11. Get Jiro! (with Joel Rose, 2012)

A lifelong comic fan, Anthony Bourdain finally created his own in 2012 with Get Jiro! Set in Los Angeles in the not-too-distant future, master chefs rule the town like crime lords and a bloody culinary war rages as people literally kill for a seat at the best restaurants.

On one side, the “Internationalists” blend foods from all over the world into exotic delights, while the “Vertical Farm” people prepare only organic, vegetarian, macrobiotic dishes.

Both sides want Jiro—a ruthless sushi chef known to decapitate patrons who dare request a California Roll—to join their faction, but Jiro has bigger ideas.

12. Get Jiro: Blood and Sushi (with Joel Rose, 2015)

In this prequel to Get Jiro!, we see the sushi chef as a young man learning his craft. As the son of one of Tokyo’s most powerful gangsters, Jiro is torn between his father’s plans for him and his own desire to master the art of sushi.

Whlie the family plans to make a bold move in the Tokyo underworld, Jiro’s half-brother Ichigo shows that he is more than happy to step in and do the dirty work.

13. Appetites (2016)

Published in 2016, this was the last book Bourdain published before his untimely death two years later. But rather than teaching readers how to replicate the French cuisine of Les Halles, Bourdain shares recipes he likes to cook for his own family and friends.

Designed for home cooks, this is a collection of Bourdain’s personal favorites, recipes he believes everyone should know. Sweet anecdotes of cooking with his daughter are sprinkled throughout, along with his trademark humor as he offers an efficient game plan for Thanksgiving and other events.

14. World Travel: An Irreverent Guide with Laurie Woolever (2021)

Published posthumously in 2021, the book was actually assembled by Anthony’s good friend and assistant, Laurie Woolever, who also helped with Appetites.

Using his own writings and hours-long interviews Woolever conducted with him before his death, this book takes readers for one last ride through an entertaining and informative travel guide.

Those closest to Bourdain also pay tribute with their own essays, including his brother, Christopher.

Did Anthony Bourdain Write His Own Books?

Anthony Bourdain did write his own books. If you weren’t a close follower of his work, you may have known him primarily as a globetrotting TV personality, but one of his earliest passions (besides cooking) was actually writing. His humble beginnings in the field show common struggles that most writers will find relatable.

In the mid-1980s, while working as a chef in various New York restaurants, Bourdain submitted unsolicited work to literary magazines, eventually getting a piece published about a chef trying to purchase heroin on the Lower East Side.

In 1985, he signed up for a writing workshop with author Gordon Lish, and in 1990, he received a small advance from Random House after meeting an editor.

He paid for his own book tour for Bone in the Throat in 1995, but his first two novels did not perform well. It was his exposé in the New Yorker that led to his breakout success with Kitchen Confidential.

Anthony Bourdain’s Legacy

Anthony Bourdain took his viewers and readers on a tour of the world. He encouraged us to be open minded, to “walk in someone else’s shoes, or at least eat their food.”

His award-winning shows gave millions the chance to see and learn about other cultures, places, and people, sharing his privilege to take us farther than most of us will ever get on our own.

If you haven’t seen his shows, I highly recommend giving them a chance, especially Parts Unknown. If you’ve already pored over every episode but have yet to experience his writing, I hope you check out some of the books from this list and get to know the distinct voice that started a legendary career.

Do you have a favorite Anthony Bourdain book? Share it with us in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like: