if you’ve ever found your interest even marginally piqued by the mystifying world of fine dining, or maddened by their insistence upon “simplifying” and “deconstruction;” appalled by the authoritative techniques of one Gordon Ramsay; or affected by the devil-may-care sincerity of Anthony Bourdain; the work of Marco Pierre — for better or worse, depending on who you ask — is often credited as their genesis.
as someone who works in hospitality (an important distinction from merely being in “food service,” as i’ve been frequently reminded), i have an admitted bias towards food-centric novels and the oft-eccentrics that bind them. growing up in a hispanic household that often preferred to cook all the things they couldn’t say (you might not get an apology, but best believe there’d be enough arroz con gandules for seconds and thirds that night), i believe in its capacity to mend hearts and operate as an extension of the love we have for those close to us.
for all his “bollockings“ — as Pierre White himself puts it — he clearly believes in this capacity for magic as well, and his passion, though definitively excessive in its shouty, cheese-hurling manifestations, can at least be empathized with. his ascension, storied intensity, and startlingly frank instances of vulnerability make for a really unique read, and a must for anyone in The Industry(™).
i’m also re-reading Dune :P
Sep 26, 2024
Related Recs
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The final two books written by what may be the most underrated writer of the last 20 years. A rock journalist who found great acclaim with his biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis and Dean Martin among others, Tosches' fiction is as great as any American novelist of the recent past. This pair of books is a one/two punch that plunges the depths of the human soul with a profound understanding and accuracy regarding the dark edges of human nature. The first is set in ancient Judea and tells the story of Emperor Tiberius' ex-speech writer who, through his exceptional P.R. skills, turns a charismatic lay-about into the Messiah. The latter book is a modern vampire tale and Tosches uses himself as the central character; an aging novelist who roams the late night streets of Downtown Manhattan indulging in urges most carnal and sanguinary.
Feb 17, 2023
As someone who was unmoved by Daddy but enamoured with The Iceman, I was unsure of what to expect when I cracked open Cline’s latest novel, The Guest. Revered as the Play It As It Lays of Gen Z sex work, Uncut Gems for chicks and the “book of the summer,” the novel tells the story of a twenty-two year old named Alex who is ousted by her sugar daddy in the Hamptons and determined to drift her way through the island until Labour Day. A stressful read in which an unreliable protagonist makes nothing but bad decisions, the sentences are clean and the plot grows tense with every page.
Most piercing, however, is the precision to which Cline illustrates how whiteness and its perceived docility can permeate the gates of wealth and class at ease. Chapter by chapter, constructed episodically so the rising action mirrors the high (and inevitable crash) of a drug, we read as Alex flattens herself to become fluid, to leech, to exploit. Cline's understanding of how these spaces function, and how the right (or white) wallflower can encroach on a territory that is not theirs, undetected, is acute. As a result, Alex's powers of manipulation come not from an aptitude for obscuring her identity. It's quite the opposite. Instead of a disguise, she offers herself - a blank canvas of a girl - and allows her surrounding environment to assume how she might fit in their world. Upon completion, I thought of a new comparison: Parasite amoungst the privileged.
Jan 22, 2024
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Guy Fieri's Time's Square Restaurant
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-guys-american-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html
The Red Hot Chili Peppers (behind a paywall but the preview text is enough)
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-awfulness-of-the-red-hot-chili-peppers-has-always-felt-weirdly-personal/
Jared Kushner's Boook
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/17/books/review-breaking-history-jared-kushner.html
Jan 26, 2024
Top Recs from @bulkyheadphones
cartoonishly gory and melodramatic it may be, i have found a lot of catharsis in living vicariously through araki‘s articulation of queer angst, and how life in rural america can literally feel like stepping into hell itself; if you like irreverent protagonists and seeing bodily harm done to nazis, it’s a must ^_^
Aug 1, 2024
depending on the day of the week, (usually a random wednesday on which i feel the more ravenously coveted releases of SAW vol. 1&2 can be overlong and at times unwieldy), drukqs is to me the most evocative distillation of aphex’s predilection for acid-break brutalizations and madcap sonic textures.
it is, somehow, one of the albums i return to most and yet one of the last i’d ever recommend to a sane individual — and ironically, one of the worst to listen to while stoned. i can’t vouch for it enough
Oct 2, 2024
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so far, turning 24 has brought with it the sobering realization that my life won’t simply happen to me, and all the boring, healthy, ritualistic sh*t—once seeming like baseless naïveté spouted unanimously by people who had this epiphany far sooner than i—actually works. so far, 24 has been about catching up to the me that i wanted to be by now, and giving myself grace for keeping her waiting.
that baboon from bojack horseman might’ve been onto something. it does get a little easier, on the condition that you keep trying. i’m gonna go make some tea
Oct 1, 2024