World Travel

An Irreverent Guide

By: Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever

Narrated by: Laurie Woolever, Shep Gordon, Christopher Bourdain, Jen Agg, Matt Walsh, Bill Buford, Claude Tayag, Nari Kye, Vidya Balachander, Steve Albini

A guide to some of the world’s most fascinating places, as seen and experienced by writer, television host, and relentlessly curious traveler Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain saw more of the world than nearly anyone. His travels took him from the hidden pockets of his hometown of New York to a tribal longhouse in Borneo, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai to Tanzania’s utter beauty and the stunning desert solitude of Oman’s Empty Quarter—and many places beyond.

In World Travel, a life of experience is collected into an entertaining, practical, fun and frank travel guide that gives readers an introduction to some of his favorite places—in his own words. Featuring essential advice on how to get there, what to eat, where to stay and, in some cases, what to avoid, World Travel provides essential context that will help readers further appreciate the reasons why Bourdain found a place enchanting and memorable.

Supplementing Bourdain’s words are a handful of essays by friends, colleagues, and family that tell even deeper stories about a place, including sardonic accounts of traveling with Bourdain by his brother, Christopher; a guide to Chicago’s best cheap eats by legendary music producer Steve Albini.

For veteran travelers, armchair enthusiasts, and those in between, World Travel offers a chance to experience the world like Anthony Bourdain.

The audiobook is read by Laurie Woolever, Shep Gordon, Christopher Bourdain, Jen Agg, Matt Walsh, Bill Buford, Claude Tayag, Nari Kye, Vidya Balachander, and Steve Albini.

Copyright 2021 by Anthony M. Bourdain Trust UW; “A Child’s View of Paris (1966),” “Revisiting New Jersey,” and “Uruguay Dreamin’” copyright 2020 by Christopher Bourdain; published with permission of Christopher Bourdain

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Serious Reservations

At the beginning the author said she asked herself if this book was needed. The answer was no. The guest essays were the most interesting part. The narrator reading Anthony Bourdain's part was truly awful.

Not meant to be an audio book

I was expecting stories of adventures through food. This is a cliff notes version of places to travel to.

Great Listen for Bourdain Superfans

I bought this because I’m dedicated to Mr. Bourdain’s work. This is an extremely detailed summary of nearly every place Mr. Bourdain visited and loved. It includes great memories and excerpts from shows that any Superfan that kept his shows playing in the background on repeat so that the information permeated one’s subconscious will remember. This is a book for those who are still mourning and just in deep need of “more Tony please.” It’s not an emotional deep dive but a ton of facts, his views on TONS of outstanding cities and descriptions of beautiful places on this fragile planet.

Pros: It’s Bourdain’s work. It’s unbelievably thorough and clearly a ton of work for those who put this together. It’s a great resource that any polyglot and globalist (be it a Hyatt one or a globe loving traveller) will appreciate. It’s a demonstration of dedication to his work and the goal of making sure his heart and soul are well documented and cared for in writing. I love that his team felt this must be published. What a demonstration of love!

Cons: It’s so dry…almost unbearably so. It took me two times to really get into it. The first time I listened to it, I didn’t get far. I finally revisited it because I have a determination to revisit everything he touched.

Also, the number of mispronounced words, proper names of cities, locations and things are shocking. It’s clear that someone assumed they knew how to say “Medina” but they don’t. It’s fairly if not heavily peppered with poor pronunciation. If you’re from an international community that hears a number of languages daily then you will be bothered by it. If you’re a person who does not read or is completely oblivious to other nations with Tony as your only outlet to the world you *may* not notice the difference between the pronunciation differences. But if you rely on this for your city visit, find someone from the area or a person that is global to learn how to say certain things because if you go to Al Maghreb asking about a “Muh DYHNE uh” …you may end up somewhere else.

Still, I’m grateful for it. It’s a great guide for any Bourdain pilgrimage. May his soul rest. I miss him every single day and was greatful for the interactions and the few times I was allowed to help promote the show from the other side of production. Cheers.

Tony is missed

Dear Amazon audible customers,
This is a great book to get your juices flowing on travel and food. I did not realize the entire thing was read by others besides Tony so just a heads up if you missed that detail.

Confused?

I’m confused why this Frankenstein of a book was published under Anthony’s name. Really can’t put words to the feelings you have listening to this book. I enjoyed the round about wrap ups by Anthony, but everything between felt mashed up and in-genuine. Not to say there weren’t sweet parts of the book. I’m extremely confused by this being published if Anthony didn’t do any ground work before he passed.