Biography on Bourdain in the works

AN AUTHORISED biography of the late Anthony Bourdain ( right) is set to hit bookshelves next fall.

The Oral Biography will be a compilation of stories shared by his closest friends.

The project was first spied by cookbook writer Paula Forbes on PublishersMarketplace.com, under the heading ‘Deal of the Day’ and circulated on Twitter.

Bourdain’s long-time collaborator Laurie Woolever will be editing the book.

Woolever confirmed the news to food blog Eater, in a statement: “After working with and collaborating with Tony since 2004, I’m honoured to now be working with his estate, and talking to the people who knew him best, in order to share the story of a life that influenced so many people, in so many ways, all across the globe.”

Bourdain’s death by suicide in France on June 8 sent the food, travel and media world reeling in shock.

CNN reported that Bourdain was found in his hotel room by his celebrity chef-friend Eric Ripert. The travel host was in Kaysersberg, France, where he was shooting an episode of his CNN travelogue Parts Unknown.

Online tributes of Bourdain’s impact on the food and travel world described the chef, author and TV presenter as a fearless game-changer who challenged, questioned and, most of all, inspired.

The project that famously started it all, was a 1999 article published in The New Yorker called Don’t Eat Before Reading This, in which Bourdain, at the time executive chef of Brasseries Les Halles in Manhattan, spilled trade secrets about dining in New York.

The story would lead to a 2000 New York Times bestselling memoir, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, which likewise took readers behind the scenes of New York’s sometimes seedy, often raucous and questionably sanitary restaurant culture, with his signature black humour, wit and sharp elegance.

In an interview with Vulture, editor Daniel Halpern, who published Kitchen Confidential, said Bourdain had been working on a collection of personal essays delving into his personal experiences of being on the road, travelling and having a family, just before his death. – AFPRelaxnews