New Book On Anthony Bourdain Set To Explore His Deepest Insecurities & Obsessions

People have had a hard time though letting Anthony Bourdain rest in peace. The fascination over his life and odd circumstances surrounding his death has made people want to know more. Multiple documentaries have already been produced around the life of the former chef. This new biography though may just contain the deepest secrets that the public will ever know about the star. The book is titled “Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography”, and it was put together by Bourdain’s long-time assistant Laurie Woolever. She had unique access to over 90 people that were very close to Bourdain during his lifetime. Their stories paint a completely different picture of the man that people knew from TV. 

For the writer of the book Laurie Woolever the journey began just a couple of weeks after Bourdain’s death in 2018. She had been his assistant for over 15 years to that point. Bourdain had hired her back in 2002 to help him write one of his cookbooks. After all the time that she spent working for him, she felt she had a pretty good grasp of who the man was. That was until she started interviewing more people who had known him. Woolever recalls, 

“[There were] stories I’d never heard and insights and observations that were new to me,” Woolever told The NY Post in a recent sit down. “I learned something new from every single person that I spoke with.”     

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One thing that many sources agree on about Bourdain is that he was a man who was always on the move. It wasn’t just his job though that took him to places. He literally had trouble staying in one spot. For friends and co-workers that left them with a sense of always wanting to see more of Bourdain and get closer to him. However, Bourdain was not willing to settle down. Parts Unknown” director and editor Nick Brigden details in the book, 

“He was a shark, always on the move, he had to move to survive.”

While co-worker Anderson Cooper talked about wanting, but failing to get closer to him and get his approval saying, “Every time I was with him, I wanted it to go longer,”  

Apparently keeping a tan look was something that Bourdain was keen to maintain. The reason why he potentially wanted to be so tan though wasn’t exactly to look like he’d just been to the beach. Instead, the tanning was something that he was potentially doing to hide that very distinct skin color that you develop when you’re on heroin. James Graham who worked with Bourdain in various kitchens recalls this habit saying, 

“He would tan, I think largely to hide the pallor of heroin,” he then goes on to say “He would play hooky . . . and tan aggressively. He looked like a Versace bag.”  

If there’s a combination of things that could be said largely contributed to Bourdain's downfall it would have to be his addiction and his bad relationships. In some of the interviews in the book friends of Bourdain felt both of these issues intertwined more than once. In an instance recalling that Bourdain was making great strides to stay clean after developing a liking for Jujitsu. However, a shady relationship got him back on drugs. Although Laurie Woolever was a producer on the biopic Roadrunner this book reveals more stories and more in-depth analysis into the character of the man. This story is potentially one of the biggest celebrity downfalls of the modern era!