Joel Rose

An entertaining romp. A future world where foodieism is the dominant cultural force, and restaurateurs rule LA society like crime bosses. One man stands against them, a solitary practitioner of the art of sushi. The plot is flimsy at best, seemingly set up purely to allow Bourdain to take a few potshots at current foodie trends (the two baddies are a haute cuisine purist and a compromised locavore dogmatic). The art is beautiful, though the actual comics don't always work, and Jose Villarubia's colouring lends the whole enterprise a respectability it doesn't quite deserve.

Lurking inside this is a good story and comic, but it would have taken a lot more care and time to draw it out. Fine as a distracting little romp, but not one for the shelves.… (meer)

I had this sat on my shelf so long before getting round to reading, and I think it came from a remainder bookshop back in the 90s. So I was a bit surprised to see some of the authors in it are actually much more well known now than they would have been back then - so you get David Foster Wallace with an author bio saying he's 'working on something long' (gotta be Infinite Jest right?), and A M Homes before she's published May We be Forgiven etc.

I really dislike the cover, and so was a bit sorry to see it was by Art Spiegelman.

Anyway its a collection of quirky and disturbing short stories, all vaguely about love, romance and sex. Some are better than others, and I'm finding it hard to remember them all in detail now, but I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. Its odd to read something that was probably edgy and modern at time of publishing but now seems a little dated.… (meer)

A book about a simple man who just wants to makes good sushi in a future Los Angelo's. Of course, there wouldn't be a story if it was that simple.

The future is foodies. Where chefs are gang leaders, holding onto areas with an iron fist. No restaurant is allowed to exist without the benevolence of the gangs. Jiro is a sushi chef, recently from Japan. He sets up shop in a out of the way of a strip mall, serving up the best sushi in town. So when it draws the attention of the two main chef-leaders, Jiro has to take drastic action just to survive.

If you are looking for something deep with a message about food, this isn't it. Its basically a fun story about man just wanting to make great Sushi. Its over the top but fun. With well done illustrations that make the story, its a great read.… (meer)

I was really saddened by Anthony Bourdain's death. I respected his work a great deal, especially how he was able to open westerners' eyes to the ways of life in other countries and cultures. He used food as a gateway to help people relate to those different from themselves in a really powerful way. I've always been a fan of his and, as someone who has struggled with these demons many times, was beyond words when I heard about his suicide.

Naturally, my coping mechanism involved relentlessly googling his name. In so doing, I found an article about how he had originally wanted to be a comic book artist but had been rejected because his art wasn't good enough, and so he moved on to being an award-winning chef and television host(!). After his success in television he was eventually able to produce a few comics about the subjects he loved. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

But I have to be honest. This comic did not hit home. The characters are one dimensional and the plot doesn't make any sense. But! the world building is exquisite. I completely buy in to this future LA where cooking skills are the prime currency and gastronomy is the only art that has any sway anymore. Thinking about it critically, that makes no sense, but in this comic it feels very natural.

I think a lot of the problems with this comic stem from maybe Bourdain was given too much leeway with not enough editorial support? He had never published a narrative format book before so someone should have been there to say 'maybe let's do this another way'. I mean, it's a really fascinating idea with some really cool characters who could have benefited from a lot more development. I especially love Rose, the hypocritical, local-food movement, vegan chef.

However, I find the battle between Rose and her adversary, the unethical, misogynistic Bob very unrealistic. We're presented with this binary choice between the hippie, vegan, local collective (except the leader secretly eats meat and buys ingredients from non-local sources) and the trans-global, corporate, profit-centered sexual harasser like that's a real choice. The hippie chick kills people and feeds them to pigs, but that is not a reasonable representation of reality. The corporate, rapey assholes on the other side are very much real and exist everywhere, but we're given this straw-woman to be his counterpoint so he doesn't seem so bad in comparison.

I could go on, but basically the main character is a nothing personality with a mysterious past who is forced to choose between two powerful sides, one of which is squarely grounded in real-life corporatist nightmare assholes, the other a gross exaggeration of the hypocrisies of vegan hippies (who are annoying but could never have anywhere near this much power).

I'm sorry Anthony, I love you but this just isn't very good. I hope you understand.… (meer)