Anthony Bourdain's Reading List

"Sarah Bakewell’s How to Live , on the life and work of Montaigne, is a book I love. I stole a tattoo design from it."

"Violent. Twisted. Hilarious and beautiful."

"Filthy, dangerous, depraved groundbreaking. And funny as Hell. Not an ideal role model, I grant you. But a writer I very much looked up to and wanted, for better or worse, to emulate."

"I wish I could write like Joan Didion."

"And yet, when we ask ourselves and each other the question, what — if strapped to a chair, facing a fatal surge of electricity — would we want as that last taste of life, we seem to crave reminders of simpler, harder times. A crust of bread and butter . . . Poor-people food."

"I don’t know if you know this but I’ve found that if you sat at a table with eight or nine of the worlds best chefs — from France, Brazil, America, wherever — and you asked them where they’d choose if they had to eat in one, and only one country, for the rest of their lives, they would ALL of them pick Japan without hesitation. We both know why."

"Drama, romance, tragic history in SE Asia? I’m there! I re-read it frequently. Particularly when visiting Vietnam."

"A book I’ve read many times but keep coming back to."

"To reiterate : Gabrielle Hamilton’s PRUNE is indeed, a fucking masterpiece."

"The best, most realistic crime novel ever. Best dialogue in a crime novel ever."

"Elegant, deliciously immoral entry in series of sociopath as hero. Basis for the Wim Wenders film, the American Friend."

"This is — and will remain — an essential account for anyone considering travel to Việt Nam. But it should be a deeply rewarding read as well for those who won’t be getting that opportunity anytime soon."

"Food writing’ at its very, very best. Never surpassed. What all writing about eating should be."

"A glorious spy novel. Witty, knowing. Delicious."

"Unfuck yourself and get Bonnie McFarlane’s excellent memoir, You’re Better Than Me . Every second that you are not reading this amazing, hilarious, painfully funny, extraordinary book should feel like the ninth circle of hell."

"Just a reminder that Joyce Carol Oates is one of the great writers on boxing. Reading (again) her terrific On Boxing ."

"The font of all wisdom. Orwell is right about nearly everything."

"Donald Ray Pollock was a revelation when I first read The Devil All the Time ."

"The greatest female protagonist I’ve ever read. Portis is one of the most underrated under appreciated authors of the 20th century. Forget the film versions. Read the book. His book, ‘Dog Of The South,’ is also brilliant."

"Food can be magic. It is magic. And yet it’s not. it comes from somewhere — and from someplace and someone. Always. Food tells a story. Usually a very personal one. Questlove gets to the heart of the matter. And so, here he is, getting to it."

"Just the title got its publisher Banned On Twitter. A proud day in publishing."

"The book that probably influenced me more than any other. A prose stylist and a personality who changed my life."