In the Weeds

Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain

By: Tom Vitale

Narrated by: Tom Vitale

Anthony Bourdain's long time director and producer takes readers behind the scenes to reveal the insanity of filming television in some of the most volatile places in the world, and what it was like to work with a legend.

"The most complete picture yet of Bourdain's complex and conflicted character ... Vitale's writing is seductively alive, pulsating with events and vividly rendered observations." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Since Anthony Bourdain's death, no one else has come close to filling the void he left. His passion and genuine curiosity about the people and cultures he visited made the world feel smaller and more connected. Despite his affable, confident, and trademark snarky TV persona, the real Tony was intensely private, deeply conflicted about his fame, and an enigma even to those close to him. Tony’s devoted crew knew him best, and no one else had a front-row seat for as long as his director and producer, Tom Vitale.

Over the course of more than a decade traveling together, Tony became a boss, a friend, a hero and, sometimes, a tormentor.In the Weeds takes readers behind the scenes to reveal not just the insanity that went into filming in some of the most far-flung and volatile parts of the world, but what Tony was like unedited and off-camera. From the outside, the job looked like an all-expenses-paid adventure to places like Borneo, Vietnam, Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Libya.

What happened off-camera was far more interesting than what made it to air. The more things went wrong, the better it was for the show. Fortunately, everything fell apart constantly.

Nominated for the 2022 BookTube Prize in Nonfiction

Great book. Poor narration by the author.

Loved the book. Left it and home and had to finish on Audible. The regular narration is good, his reading of quotes uses (poorly) impersonated voices which were distracting and a bit annoying. Would have benefited from a pro narrator.

Funny, heartwarming, disturbing, and shocking

This book gives a new perspective to the Anthony Bourdain we are all used to seeing on TV.

More of a collection of experiences rather than a cohesive novel, this book shows "Parts Unknown" from a totally new angle. It shows the incredible amount of work that went into making the show, and recounts some of the most exciting, terrifying, unsettling, and heartwarming experiences that Tom had while directing the show.

Told by someone who genuinely knew Tony, it gives the reader a window into what he was like off camera.

If you are looking for answers as to why Tony took his own life, this book doesn't have them. No one will truly know the demons he was battling. However, it is a great tribute to Tony and a celebration of his life and legacy. You can tell when listening that writing this book was an emotional challenge for Tom, and those emotions are conveyed beautifully through his own narration.

I highly recommend this book to any Anthony Bourdain fans, world travelers, and anyone wanting to be taken on a journey with one of the most influential chefs and personalities of the modern world.

Loves hearing Tony's impact on Tom's life

I'm a huge fan of anything Bourdain related. Really speaks volumes of the impact Tony made on others. I enjoyed that Tom was the orator of his own story. Parts are quite funny, especially the crews take on not eating a lot of the local delicacies. I've read both Toms and Lori's books and appreciate both their points of view of their time with Tony and how both evolved personally.

Absolutely Incredible

Such incredible storytelling. You can definitely see why Tony considered him his A team all these years. Absolutely blown away with how great this book is. I binged it in one day.

A Great Second Perspective

There are mixed reviews of people saying that this book isn't representative of Anthony Bourdain's voice, but I think that is a misguided review. The book isn't trying to be Tony, the book is from the perspective of his right hand man, Tom. You can tell that it was written with a lot of love, as well as sadness. It also provides some great insights into what happened on the shows behind the camera. I found myself binging this book and was sad when it came to an end.