The Anthony Bourdain Reader: New, Classic, and Rediscovered Writing

by Anthony Bourdain

The definitive, career-spanning collection of writing from Anthony Bourdain, assembled for the first time in book form

Anthony Bourdain represented many things to many people—and he had many sides. But no part of his identity was more important to him, and more long-lasting, than that of a writer. The Anthony Bourdain Reader is a collection of his best and most fascinating writing, and touches on his many pursuits and passions, from restaurant life to family life to the “low life,” from TV to travel through places like Vietnam, Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai.

The Anthony Bourdain Reader is also a showcase for new and never-before-seen material, like diary entries from Bourdain’s first trip to France as a teenager and “It’s Cruel and Unforgiving Terrain,” a piece on the New York restaurant scene, as well as unpublished short fiction like “I Quit My Job Yesterday” and chapters from No New Messages, his unfinished novel. These newly discovered pieces all contribute to give the fullest picture of the man behind the books.

The Anthony Bourdain Reader is a testament to the enduring and singular voice Bourdain crafted, with eclectic and curated chapters that encapsulate the unique brilliance of his restless mind. Edited by Bourdain’s longtime agent and friend Kimberly Witherspoon and with a foreword by Patrick Radden Keefe, this is an essential reader for any Bourdain fan as well as a vivid and moving recollection of the life and legacy of one of our most distinctive writers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Food, Memoir, Biography, Essays, Cooking

503 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 28, 2025

About the author

Anthony Michael Bourdain was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition.
Bourdain was a 1978 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and a veteran of many professional kitchens during his career, which included several years spent as an executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles, in Manhattan. He first became known for his bestselling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000).

Bourdain's first food and world-travel television show A Cook's Tour ran for 35 episodes on the Food Network in 2002 and 2003. In 2005, he began hosting the Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (2005–2012) and The Layover (2011–2013). In 2013, he began a three-season run as a judge on The Taste and consequently switched his travelogue programming to CNN to host Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Although best known for his culinary writings and television presentations, along with several books on food and cooking and travel adventures, Bourdain also wrote both fiction and historical nonfiction.

Reviews

[Sarah Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review: The Anthony Bourdain Reader
Rating: 4.5/5

Anthony Bourdain’s posthumous anthology, The Anthony Bourdain Reader, is a masterful curation of his literary legacy, showcasing the razor-sharp wit, unflinching honesty, and voracious curiosity that defined his career. Edited by his longtime agent Kimberly Witherspoon, this collection transcends mere nostalgia, offering both longtime fans and new readers a prismatic view of Bourdain’s evolution as a writer—from kitchen confessionalist to global storyteller.

Strengths & Reactions
Bourdain’s voice leaps off the page with its trademark blend of irreverence and insight. The anthology’s eclectic structure—spanning essays, recipes, graphic novel excerpts, and unpublished fragments—mirrors his restless intellect. His writing on food is visceral (his rant about brioche buns is both hilarious and oddly profound ), but it’s his geopolitical musings and self-deprecating reflections on fame that linger. A chapter on Vietnam, for instance, captures his ability to weave personal vulnerability with cultural critique, leaving readers equal parts enlightened and unsettled.

As an academic reader, I appreciated the volume’s refusal to sanitize Bourdain’s edges. His critiques of Western foreign policy and the commodification of travel feel eerily prescient, while his darker, introspective pieces (like those touching on addiction) underscore the duality of his public persona. The inclusion of lesser-known works, such as early fiction attempts, adds depth to understanding his creative process, though some may find these sections uneven compared to his polished nonfiction.

Constructive Criticism
While the anthology is comprehensive, its thematic jumps—from kitchen tales to graphic novels—can feel disjointed. A more structured chronology or thematic grouping might have aided coherence. Additionally, though Witherspoon’s editorial hand is deft, a critical introduction contextualizing Bourdain’s literary influences (e.g., Orwell, Hunter S. Thompson) would have enriched the academic value.

How I would describe this book:
- A feast for the mind—Bourdain’s brilliance, served raw and unfiltered.
- Proof that Bourdain was as much a writer as he was a chef, traveler, and provocateur.
- An essential volume that captures the heartbeat of a generation’s most resonant voice.

Personalized Remarks & Gratitude
Reading this felt like sharing a late-night conversation with Bourdain himself—equal parts exhilarating and melancholic. His ability to find humanity in a bowl of noodles or a war-torn alley remains unmatched. Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for the advance copy; this anthology is a fitting tribute to a man who taught us to “eat boldly” and think even more boldly.

Final Verdict: 4.5/5 — A must-read for Bourdain devotees and anyone who values writing that crackles with life, even in its darkest corners.

[Mai H.]

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco

[kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

my partner while i was reading this book:

“when he’s opinionated and unapologetic it’s 'endearing' and 'good writing' but when i do it it’s problematic”

and such is anthony bourdain

[Morgan Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a beautifully crafted tribute to Anthony Bourdain. I have never been someone who has been affected by celebrity deaths, but his completely gutted me. Since he passed, I haven’t been able to watch reruns of No Reservations and I have wanted to get back into his shows and writing. This was the perfect way to do so. The Bourdain Reader really has a bit of everything in it. While it has excerpts from Anthony’s books and cookbooks, there are handwritten notes, plays he wrote, drawings, comics, ideas for tv shows. You really get a full in-depth look back in to his life. Reading this truly brought me back to his storytelling. Two things Tony always was 1. a chef (regardless of how he viewed himself-food is everywhere in his writing) and 2. an incredible storyteller. Kimberly Witherspoon wrote in the beginning that she hoped she did him justice by putting these items together, and I truly can’t imagine anyone doing a better job. It felt like getting to visit with Tony one more time. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ecco for the eARC, while it broke my heart to read it, I truly enjoyed every word (and picture).

[reading is my hustle · Rating 5 out of 5]

bourdain was filled with relentless curiosity + intellect.
i miss him so much.

[Sungyena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I miss him i miss him i miss him. Grateful for the people who loved and knew him to make this book for fans to know a deeper side of him, mainly in that he was always a writer first and being a chef was a livelihood.

[Bob Schnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many others, I was gutted when Anthony Bourdain succumbed to his inner demons and took his own life. I had seen all of his television shows and read most of his books. When I saw "The Anthony Bourdain Reader" on the library shelf I knew I had to check it out.

If you have never read anything Bourdain wrote, this would be an excellent primer. As a long-time fan, I felt there was too much recycled and not enough unpublished or new-to-me material. However, it was nice to spend a few commutes with Tony, his voice working as a sort of security blanket during the rush hours.

[Bodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bourdain is one of my favourite non-fiction writers, his charm and personality radiate from the page and are utterly unique. His fiction just isn't for me, and that's ok.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bourdain is one of those people that took time to connect with society. To see the beauty in the mundane. The importance in food, passion, and words. I will forever cherish his talents and this collection is a wonderful embodiment of his creativity. Included are short stories, scripts, comics, drawings and all of Bourdain’s personality. I will absolutely be rereading his words as I continue to miss his contributions to our world.

Thank you NetGalley, Ecco, and Kimberly Witherspoon for putting together this collection and gifting me the eARC in exchange for my honest review. “The Anthony Bourdain Reader” is expected to be published October 28, 2025!

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bourdain's journalistic and memoir-y voice are second-to-none: fresh, real, unflinching. It's a joy to be with him. His fiction is not great — cliched, restauranty vignettes revolving around drinking, for the most part.

[Kallin · Rating 4 out of 5]

a bit eclectic, but I enjoyed the writings

[Scott Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Bourdain still feels like sitting with an old friend. You may know some of the stories but that only adds to the enjoyment.

[Nuha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available October 2025.

I came upon Anthony Bourdain when I was stuck in the house during quarantine. He had committed suicide a few years before that & it felt extremely vouyeristic to watch a dead man give tours of countries, histories, and food ways. However, I couldn't stop watching - Bourdain's mix of social commentary, humor, and food was just too addictive. The world he showed felt so foreign & so quickly slipping away - it's a bit like watching a time machine. This collection feels the same way - vouyeristic with its mix of unpublished stories & diary entries, a wry mix of humor and disdain at the world, and a look into the crazy world of kitchens from the 70s to the early aughts. It makes me appreciate Bourdain more.

[Michael Triantafyllou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this was like standing next to him at a pub and sharing a beer together. I especially liked the non fiction bits for this reason

[Bru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really dark, twisted, and poetic in a way that always hits. Writes in a way you can really hear his voice. Unshamed. I hate cooking, but love process like this described. Made me really really want to go to Vietnam.

[DeAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for fans of Bourdain, a posthumous collection of works as a celebration of his writing. And yet, reading this collection of his works from teenage years to the very last article he wrote, it feels almost wrong to be peeking into these private thoughts. How horrified would I be if my journals from age 19 were published? I felt conflicted but also curious about seeing these tidbits of his life, the handwritten scraps of paper, drawings and comics, sketches and poems.

The unfinished novel in the book was one of my favorite excerpts, although of course I wish he had finished it. I have read one of Bourdain’s other fiction novels, Bone in the Throat, which was an early work, before Kitchen Confidential and his TV fame. You can see the tremendous growth in his fiction writing from that book to the unfinished one. His travel experiences seep into the pages of the book, especially in the food descriptions. The plot reminds me of something Carl Hiaasen might write, tropical island crime fiction, but with the swagger and snarky coolness we all love about Bourdain.

His unique voice shines in any piece he writes. As I read his writing, I imagine his voice in my head, the familiar narrator from all those voiceovers of episodes I have and will continue to rewatch countless times.

A large portion of the book included excerpts taken from his other non-fiction books, which I have read multiple times. I skimmed these sections since I am already very familiar with them. Overall, this was an excellent collection of works by a strange, brilliant, and complicated man. I could sense the influences of Hunter S. Thompson and Chuck Palahniuk in his fiction, the plots filled with drug-fueled debauchery and carnage… and so much delicious food, of course.

Thanks to NetGalley & Harper Collins for the advanced reader's copy. This book releases in October 2025.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very ambivalent feelings about “The Anthony Bourdain Reader: New, Classic, and Rediscovered Writing” by Anthony Bourdain, edited by Kimberly Witherspoon. On one side, it captures the rawness of Bourdain’s writing and personality, from when he was a teenager up until his untimely death. On the other, it only provides brief glimpses of the awesomeness of his work and also reinforces all that we lost when he died, leaving us to want more.

Kimberly Witherspoon was Bourdain’s longtime friend and agent, and she does an admirable job picking pieces, both personal and public, that capture the essence of the man we know: cook/chef, traveler/adventurer, curious seeker of new things, and (most importantly to him) writer. We see early diaries and travel logs, TV scripts and fiction ideas, non-fiction tales, even some illustrations and tries at comics. Anthony was a chronicler and observer of the world around him, even at a young age. We can also see how his style and confidence grew over time, getting stronger as a storyteller.

We also get his unfiltered opinions, whether its about food, or tourists, or government policy – Anthony was not afraid of telling us what he thought, about how he realized how lucky he was to live the life that he led. From his love affair with Vietnam, to working in a restaurant, to how he tried to keep his TV shows somewhat authentic, Bourdain always let you know how he felt.

A huge loss for the travel/food communities. Although this book provides some insights that aren’t available elsewhere (including an awesome start to an unfinished novel), do yourself a favor and read everything else he has written. It will be well worth it.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Ecco via NetGalley. Thank you!

[Mark Ortiz Ortiz Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

📚 Book Review 📚

The Anthony Bourdain Reader
Release date: October 25th, 2025
Length: 478 pages
Rated: 4/5 ⭐

The Anthony Bourdain Reader is a collection of stories, journals, poems, and short pieces from the life and career of the late Anthony Bourdain.

It’s fascinating to dive into his unreleased material and see how deeply he was influenced by the writers and journalists who shaped his voice. Across the pages you find a young boy mourning his father, an angry chef frustrated with his place in the world, and a man battling addiction while searching for a rock bottom that might finally force him to change.

But what I appreciated most about this collection is that it reminded me why I love Bourdain. He really is our modern-day Bukowski: an angry, working-class stiff fed up with a society that chews up workers while handing the world over to entitled brats. He doesn’t taste success until later in life, after decades of living paycheck to paycheck, numbing himself with drugs, sex, and rock ’n’ roll. Those frustrations burn through his writing as he tears into entitled vegans, spoiled American travelers, and the general short-sightedness of modern life.

Like much of his work, this collection makes you want to quit the job you hate, book the trip you’ve been putting off for years, and break free from that 9-to-5 grind—if only in our dreams.

It’s a 4/5 ⭐ for me, only because I’d already read most of the pieces. There wasn’t as much new material as I expected. But the writing itself is a 10/5 ⭐.

#anthonybourdain #kitchenconfidential #cheflife

[Allison Hammat · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one writes about food the way Anthony Bourdain does. Whether it’s cooking it, eating it, or traveling to find it, his writing is poetic with a mix of rage, adoration, and nostalgia. It’s hard to believe he’s been gone for seven years now or that Kitchen Confidential just hit its twenty-fifth anniversary. While I know he is gone, I have found myself craving more of his work, rewatching old episodes of No Reservations to scratch the itch but not quite getting rid of it.

Enter: The Anthony Bourdain Reader, a beautiful compilation of unpublished works and familiar favorites, edited by Bourdain’s agent and friend, Kimberly Witherspoon. Witherspoon’s personal anecdotal chapter introductions add insight into her friend Tony, showing a new layer to who he was off the screen. You can feel Witherspoon’s love and care for her friend in her words.

I thoroughly enjoyed that Witherspoon opted to photocopy several Bourdain’s works through the book, giving the reader the opportunity to read in his handwriting, see some of his drawings, and connect more with the works.

My favorite chapter in the book was Vietnam. I laughed, grimaced, and glued my eyes to the page with intrigue reading about his experience eating the entire cobra at Huong Rung Restaurant.

If you’re an Anthony Bourdain fan, this book is for you. If you’re a lover of food and travel, this book is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the e-arc of this book

[Jen Thiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I grew up during the height of Anthony Bourdain’s popularity on television I think I was too young at the time to truly appreciate what a gift he was to the world. The great part about this collection is that it sheds light on the fact that even though Anthony was most famous for his t.v. shows and culinary acumen the thing he should be remembered for might just be his writing. This collection combines all different types of pieces of writing from Anthony throughout his life from fiction, to non-fiction, to graphic novels and I think the most heartbreaking part is that it’s truly through his writing that you can see who he was deep down and why he struggled the way he did with substances throughout his life, but at the end of the day I hope that people choose to pick up this collection and instead of being sad that we lost someone too soon - maybe take a page out of Anthony’s book and decide that while you’re here, you put everything into trying to become the best version of yourself that you can ❤️.

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only got to know Anthony Bourdain (and how to pronounce his surname) from his TV shows after he already died. So discovering he was also a prolific writer was a boon. This book has excerpts from most of his previously published books and some unpublished work as well.
The non-fiction is decidedly better than his fiction. And the ordering of the pieces is not always conducive to understanding the man if you don’t know his biography yet. But all in all, I enjoyed reading these poems book, often mouthwatering over his descriptions of food.
And then there’s still twenty+ seasons of his TV shows out there…

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn I miss Tony.

Of all the things I miss, it might be his writing that I miss most. His insight, descriptive abilities and humor were second to none.

The Anthony Bourdain Reader is a wonderful collection of his vast and varied works over the decades.

If you’ve read his books, fiction or non, you’ll recognize and remember many of these essays and stories but having them thematically arranged gives them a new life for new and old audiences alike.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who loved and misses Tony or anyone looking for a good place to start with his writing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the opportunity to read and review.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

received in a Goodreads giveaway. before this I knew not much about Anthony Bourdain-knew he was a chef who also had some travel shows but never watched any of them. his writing style throughout these scraps, whether it was fiction, essay , comics had really superb. his voice was strong and had a way of both being sarcastic dark and funny but also somehow tender and compassionate. one of the first books ina a while that I really read just for fun. I enjoyed the language of his words, savoring them like I imagine a diner at a restaurant he was working at would have.

[Ward Whipple · Rating 4 out of 5]

After all the TV shows and public appearances, it's easy to forget to forget that Anthony Bourdain started out as a writer. As this compendium shows, his love of the craft started even before he started working in a kitchen. Yet if you've ever heard his voice, you will hear it clearly in your head as you read each of these selected pieces, which run the gamut from excerpts from his existing bibliography to unpublished works from all points of his life. (thanks to NetGalley for the advance proof)

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic read if you’re a certified Anthony Bourdain Enjoyer such as myself- that being said reading too much of this at once can get somewhat exhausting.

Like, yes, we get it Tony, you’re not wrong. That being said- could we be just a smidgeon less cynical and pretentious for a couple of pages?

Would recommend to nearly anyone, but if you start feeling your eyes droop and the levity drain from your face, take a break ♥️

[Gladys Mejia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of writings from Anthony Bourdain was such a special read.I enjoyed seeing his handwriting, with some of his drawings, and being able to connect more with his work.

If you’re an Anthony Bourdain fan, this book is a must. For the lover of food and travel, this book this will be incredibly noteworthy.

[Chris Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of recycled material, some new. Bourdain's nonfiction much more entertaining to me than his fiction. The last one (exquisite corpse) was pretty good, though: a tug-of-war between his two divergent paths in life; though it devolved/he escaped at the end (probably when it got too close to home for him).

[Alexander Pyles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly lovely collection of Bourdain's work that covers the full range of the funny, crass, but earnest figure. Loved hearing his consistent voice through the years and decades. And if there's nothing else you can take away from Bourdain, it was his passion for food, people, and the moment. It makes you want to appreciate it all as much as he does.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's the thing. Anthony Bourdain means the world to me. Every time I feel a real depression coming on, it's time for Parts Unknown. Every time I need a pick me up, it's Kitchen Confidential. And now, this collection is just another zoloft in my life.

Thanks for the ARC

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

something v eerie about watching this man's life stripped for parts and repackaged a dozen different ways in order to squeeze every last penny out of it. all i can say is that i hope most of those pennies end up with his daughter