From AudioFile If anyone could sell you on the idea of drinking cobra bile, it's this flamboyant chef. His con gusto reading of his second book (the first was KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL) may alternately delight and dismay you. As he eats and drinks his way around the globe, Bourdain describes the slaughter of a pig in Portugal with almost the same enthusiasm as he has for the makings of near ideal repasts in Vietnam or the Napa Valley. Nothing about his reporting is half-baked; he bestows praise (upon Scotland's native foods) and disdain (upon vegans) with equal vigor. So much of his personality comes through that you can't imagine anyone else in the performing role. The abridged itinerary jumps from one continent to another--more pauses would help. Not for the faint of heart--or stomach. J.B.G. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine Product Description The only thing Tony Bourdain loves as much as cooking is travelling, and A Cook's Tour is the shotgun marriage of his two greatest passions. Inspired by the question, 'What would be the perfect meal?', Tony sets out on a quest for his culinary holy grail. Our adventurous chef starts out in Japan, where he eats traditional Fugu, a poisonous blowfish which can be prepared only by specially licensed chefs. He then travels to Cambodia, up the mine–studded road to Pailin into autonomous Khmer Rouge territory and to Phnom Penh's Gun Club, where local fare is served up alongside a menu of available firearms. In Saigon, he's treated to a sustaining meal of live Cobra heart before moving on to savour a snack with the Viet Cong in the Mekong Delta. Further west, Kitchen Confidential fans will recognize the Gironde of Tony's youth, the first stop on his European itinerary. And from France, it's on to Portugal, where an entire village has been fattening a pig for months in anticipation of his arrival. And we're only halfway around the globe...A Cook's Tour recounts, in Bourdain's inimitable style, the adventures and misadventures of America's favourite chef. About the Author Anthony Bourdain was the author of the novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo, the memoir A Cook’s Tour, and the New York Times bestsellers Kitchen Confidential, Medium Raw, and Appetites. His work appeared in the New York Times and The New Yorker. He was the host of the popular television shows No Reservations and Parts Unknown. Bourdain died in June 2018.