Anthony Bourdain is best known for his public persona as the guy with the best job on earth, travelling around the world and eating the best food wherever he goes. But next month, four months after his death, Bourdain's final book will be released. The book takes the form of a graphic novel, written by Bourdain and illustrated by Joel Rose. This will be the third instalment in their series Hungry Ghosts, which is a re-imagining of a Japanese parlour game where the samurai in the original have been replaced by chefs.
Bourdain has been a writer all this time. He's published mystery novels and his most important work, Kitchen Confidential, is what got him his TV deal in the first place. Bourdain also wrote his TV show. What may have seemed like completely unscripted trips to local restaurants were, of course, written by Bourdain. The behind-the-scenes work he did to make Parts Unknown such a success has also been recognized recently by the Emmys where the show won six awards, including the one for outstanding writing.
Bourdain's editor, Karen Rinaldi, said this of the chef/writer/TV personality's true passion:
First and foremost, Bourdain was a writer. Besides spending two decades writing and creating for television, Bourdain penned 14 books and had other works in progress when he died; he took storytelling seriously. Stories are how we connect and, in a world where real connection seems to be losing ground, Bourdain was there to help others claw their way back up. His gift was to connect cultures and people by finding what there was to honor, to share, and to be grateful for, even in the most tenuous of circumstances or in the least expected places.
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