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 stories if you love the shows

Glad to get a more in-depth narrative of the shows, Bourdain, and Tom Vitale. Great talent and great story teller.

Wish I had been there!

Loved this book! it was well written and performed. Thank you for taking us along.

Why did I wait so long?

Sad because I miss Tony, but great peek behind the curtain. I felt all the emotions!

Wow

Simply amazing to see the behind true story of a man everyone thought they knew from the eyes of a man who actually did

Could not put it down

Frankly a sad story about Tom, but a great in-depth postmortem look at the life of Anthony Bourdain, who I consider to have been a great man. He inspired me to travel and started my thirst to see this world we live in.