like a great conversation with a witty friend
343660
Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw is superbly written, partly a paean to cooks and restaurants he admires, partly a screed against the elements of the food industry that he detests.

Bourdain may have mellowed, with marriage and a young child taming him.  But his writing zings like before and his descriptive powers are still vivid and virile.  Casual profanity and  vulgar metaphors (often funny) are integral to his franchise and he maintains his R rating with this book.

Since KC brought him fame, then TV success and semi-stardom, Bourdain has become acquainted with the highest levels of US restaurants.  His refreshingly blunt views about what he's eaten, and who he's met are always entertaining.  He's like an opinionated friend, yet one who's willing to admit he could be wrong.  The topics run the gamut: should you go to culinary school, what should every competent person learn to cook, how to school a toddler into MacDonald's aversion, what's wrong with rich people's resorts (St. Barth's), food world heroes and villains -- and the morality of a superb 20 course meal. Bourdain doesn't hold back; he names names.  The chapter on Alice Waters alone is worth the price.

My favorite hero in this book is Justo Thomas, the man who skins, bones and cuts 700 pounds of fish daily for New York's high temple of seafood, Le Bernardin.  Bourdain observes Thomas's daily toil, describing his finely honed expertise, the care he takes with the fish, his obsessively clean and organized habits.  It's a fine illustration of what the highest level of cuisine requires.  The chapter has a satisfying end, with Bourdain getting permission to break the standard rule -- employees don't dine at their employer's restaurant -- and taking Thomas for his first meal at the restaurant he has served so long.

I feel like I sat down with a great conversationalist.  He expresses his views with gusto, sometimes vehemence, yet admits he could be wrong.  And at heart he's a gentleman.  His expressed loyalty to the lower rungs of the restaurant industry (where most rungs are low), his respect for their hard work, is admirable.  And his beliefs on accepting hospitality exemplify old school chivalry -- you are obliged to accept what is offered with gratitude, and claiming dietary restrictions or vegetarian squeamishness is rude in the face of your host's generosity .  Bravo Mr. Bourdain!
463590
Bryson's writing style is so effortlessly conversational, you feel like you're having a chat and a cup of coffee with a friend instead of reading a book. I read Bryson with a smile on my face.
1684980
This is like conversations I wish I'd had with a wise woman earlier in life. I'm so glad this is a book I can return to.
3388352
Wonderful, witty read, wither your Gay or Heterosexual. The commentary on political, as well as the entertaining, made me feel as if we were having the same conversations.
380887
This book was an enjoyable surprise, much like having lunch with someone you have only a passing acquaintance with and discovering in the course of conversation that they're actually pretty fascinating.

On New Years Eve of 1984 Lillian Boxfish, 85, takes the reader along as she walks thru Manhattan.  People encountered along the way and memories evoked by landmarks dear to Lillian fuel her narrative, and her story unfolds.  Lillian is a wonderful narrator  sharp, witty, charming, provocative and acerbic.  Shes led a full and interesting life, not all of it pretty.

The author has created a memorable character in Lillian Boxfish, and the way she chose to tell Lillians story is fresh and clever.  The writing is smooth and professional and kept me engaged from start to finish.  I read this in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it.
365920
A Life Less Ordinary is a fun, chatty, witty novel that really grabbed me the more I read it. While the novel mostly follows Manny's roadtrip and Zeke's attempts to maintain his professional distance while documenting it, there are also three other side stories about Manny's sisters and Zeke's bosses. Together, the different threads cover all sorts of ways life can sucker-punch you. Manny's isn't the only life that changes over the course of the novel; everyone involved has to overcome an unexpected problem and grow from the experience.

One side-story in particular - about a woman faced with raising her grandchild when her daughter proves incapable of doing so really resonated with me, and so did Manny's story of reclaiming her sense of self and self-worth in the middle of being middle-aged.

I loved Manny's banter with her invisible "friend" Harvey - by far one of the best parts of the book. I also liked the way Zeke struggled to even see Manny as a "woman" rather than as an "old woman".

The one thing I wished had been added was more excerpts from Zeke's blog posts, and I had the feeling that if the story had included two or three "blog readers" who "commented" each time he posted, the author could have added another fun and interesting subplot.

Take this one to the beach when you have a long, lazy day ahead of you!
2404851
Like a conversation with a dear friend, if your friends are poetic, well read, and incredibly generous of spirit. Funny, sad, and completely honest. May every health care provider read it to be reminded of the person behind the patient.
1642178
I really enjoyed Quotable and read it cover to cover in one sitting.  It was witty, thought-provoking, relatable and funny at points.  This book appeals to readers of all ages - my 66-year-old friend and a co-worker's 13-year-old daughter both enjoyed the read.  I look forward to future work by this author.  Well done!
4466144
A short read, more like a conversation with a friend who is just telling you his experience with living with a devastating disease.  It just flows and takes the reader right along with it. His adventures, full faced joy in what life dealt him is inspiring. If it weren't for the occasional near death situations he would mention, one would never know he had an illness. Definitely not a pity party in this book. Very entertaining and highly recommended.
2418926
Like the man who "wrote" it (he had help from co-author David Bender), Merv Griffin's "Making the Good Life Last" is an entertaining, conversational confection chockfull of stories and anecdotes about his life in show business. This book is, in many ways, a sequel to Merv's best-selling autobioraphy of a couple of decades ago. "Good Life" picks up when that tome left off, with Merv reinventing himself as a businessman and, eventually, as one of the world's richest men. There are great Tallulah tales, and delightful stories about Al Pacino, Vanna White, Orson Welles, Clint Eastwood, Cary Grant, Lucille Ball, Eva Gabor, Nancy and Ron, Donald Trump, Ted Koppel and Errol Flynn ... who Merv met while the actor was nude. "Now how shall I put this?" Merv muses. "I think it's fair to say that Flynn brandished a sword both on and off the screen." It's all warm and witty and cozy chatter from someone who feels like a friend. Until the last chapter. There, Merv starts to spout off about how much money he has ... not in dollar amounts, but in boastful brags. There's too much talk about buying jets, yachts, hotels and casinos, of building this house and that house (with "house" sometimes meaning "ranch" or "compound"), of having marble and tile imported from across the world, of collecting horses and priceless art works by French Impressionists and Colorists, of having an associate deposit a check for $273 million ("the interest alone was $50,000 a day"), when most senior citizens at the same bank that day were depositing their monthly Social Security check for "$400 or $500 at most." This is when Merv needs to be tuned out and turned off. "Making the Good Life Last" is good ...  until the last drop.
1016318
The author is a very intriguing man and he has a lot of intriguing thoughts to share. I'm not really a big reader at all, but I keep this book in my car and whenever I have down time I crack it open. I've already read it through once but it's always fun to go back and muse on philosophical topics with the author. The content is timeless. Reading this book is almost like having a conversation with your best friend. As a matter of fact, I just bought another copy for my best friend, so that whenever we're not together, he'll have this book to keep him company. Mr. Cohan is a real genuine guy and his book is a real genuine read. Definitely give it a shot!
1878928
This little book does a great job of touching on every type and facet of friendship. I really like all the "cool quotes." The author did a terrific job of gathering together all kinds of quotes that really get you thinking in new ways (e.g., in a friendship, advice is a gift, not a command-and it can be returned unused if it doesn't fit.-Letty Cotton Pogrebin). I also like the "pal projects." I plan on using some of them with my youth group. Megan (13) liked reading the true stories. Bottom Line: Friends will love exploring this book together, and girls will enjoy flipping through the pages alone.
4975214
I looooved this book! It's so relatable and written like a conversation with a great friend! You do not want to miss the advise and wisdom she shares!
4707818
I bought this for my sister, who greatly enjoyed it.  The quotations are witty and contain more than a grain of truth.
1602348
So many great conversations with amazing people in and outside the mainstream comedy world. Fabulous. Also, there are some cool insights into writing on "The Larry Sanders Show".
99510
The inscription at the begining of Tuleja's "Quirky Quotations" is from Cicero: "Nothing that can be said is so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it." The pages that follow prove the rule.
Tuleja's "Quirky Quotations" is a witty and lighthearted look at some memorable quotations and the stories behind them.  The book is a delight to read--instead of being a dull compendium of quotations, it cleverly and briefly explains the context of many famous, infamous and obscure remarks (some of which are worth remembering at parties or at meetings that have become far too serious).
Tuleja breaks the book up into short paragraphs that can easily be read at brief sittings.  This makes "Quirky Quotations" ideal for reading on an airplane or--dare I say it--as a bathroom reader.
1883260
It reads like a conversation between long time friends. I felt like I could hear the voices of each character.