I am addicted to Anthony Bourdain No Reservations on the Travel Channel. I am particularly attracted to Bourdain’s narration of the program. He is insightful, humorous, and eloquent.Last night, I caught a rerun of Bourdain’s visit to London. During the program, he refers to one of his novels. Hmm, a novel? I headed to the library today and picked up Bourdain’s The Bobby Gold Stories: A Novel.Bobby Gold is a good-hearted thug who falls for a cook, Nikki, who dreams of life on the lam. Nikki has no attractive qualities—apart from a nice body—and I had difficulty imagining why Bobby would willingly give up everything for her.I had hoped for an intelligent novel similar to No Reservations. I wanted to experience more of Bourdain’s witticisms and cultural insights. Instead, I found a by-the-book gangster novel oozing with crude scenes and foul language. The profanity wouldn’t have been an issue if it were used to enhance a smart novel. Instead, the book feels gratuitous for the sake of being gratuitous. In fact, I am almost embarrassed to admit I even read it.The only time I enjoyed the novel was when I imagined the narrative in Bourdain’s voice. Suddenly, the words sounded more intelligent, almost elegant. Perhaps I am simply mesmerized by the sound of his voice. However, I did not have the mental fortitude to read the entire book in this manner, so ultimately I was thoroughly disappointed by the novel.
Like most of Bourdain's writing, The Bobby Gold Stories: A Novel is very crisp, expletive and violent-- the very reason I enjoy it so. Still for anyone familiar with the noir genre, and for anyone who knows how they go, this book and it's crash course ending will come as no surprise. So what's this one about? Well, much like his non-fiction work, this book is about thugging and cooking.The titular character of this book is a lovable thug whose personality finally awakens when he falls in love with a "saute bitch" named Nikki. Things quickly spiral out of control leading to a familiar ending and pizza chucking.Still, it's a quick and entertaining read, one that is easy to get through and quickly forgotten. A mild recommend.
What do You think about The Bobby Gold Stories (2004)?
Before I begin, I want to admit that my opinion about this book is a bit biased because I dislike Anthony Bourdain. Moreso as an author, TV host & chef...Which I suppose is all that he is in a nutshell. So yeah, I dislike the man.I was given this book to read and was told that it was "f**king hilarious." When I was finished, I couldn't have agreed with him more. He was right; This book IS hilarious. It's a downright a joke. If you want the short version of what this book is composed of, here
—Dolly
I'll be honest, I picked this book up because I love Anthony Bourdain. He definitely is a talented writer. The protagonist, Bobby Gold, could never catch a break, and the only good thing that seemed to happen to him, Nikki, was taken from him, too. That made me really sad, even though I didn't really like Nikki. The language was a little rough, but that seems to be characteristic of Bourdain anyway. For some reason I pictured Eddie Fish as the little short guy with the weird hair from The Lorax movie.
—Sarah Greene
You could finish the entire thing during the course of a particularly epic bowel movement, and you get the sense it's just something Anthony Bourdain threw together to capitalize on the success of the mega bestseller Kitchen Confidential and the subsequent TV series, but who gives a shit? I don't like long books anyway, because they take forever to read, and it makes me feel like that's because I can't read well (when it's really just the book's fault), and I'm a very sensitive person, due to my financial situation. This book reads like a cross between No Reservations and The Sopranos. Of course I've seen all 100+ episodes of each series. I've probably seen them all several times over. (Oh, so that's what happened to my 20s.) This book was right up my alley. No Boutros.
—Byron
