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elleng

(130,973 posts)
Fri Jun 8, 2018, 12:31 PM Jun 2018

Anthony Bourdain Was the Most Interesting Man in the World.

An appreciation.

'I wanted his life. I don’t think I’m alone in that. He went places you and I will never go. He ate things you and I will never eat. He met people you and I will never meet. He lived. Anthony Bourdain lived so much that the idea of him dying seems completely preposterous.

And yet here we are. Pick any superlative you want for him. He was, of course, an excellent chef. If you haven’t made his scrambled eggs, do yourself a favor and correct that. He was a wonderful writer and enormously popular public speaker. He presided over what was, in my mind, the best travel show in TV history (No Reservations and Parts Unknown shared a production company, a host, and a logline, so by all means consider them one and the same).

But his greatest accomplishment, of course, was his life itself. I mean, honestly, WHAT A GODDAMN LIFE, MAN! He lived a scant 61 years, but my god, were those years densely packed. Watching him trot around the globe week to week engendered only the warmest of envies. And, in death, Bourdain takes with him a collection of memories and experiences so immeasurable, and so vast, that they dwarf any book or TV episode he leaves behind.

It is that life, more than his work, that millions of people (myself included) seek to emulate: a life that is hungry, thirsty, curious, honest, compassionate, rowdy, horny, all of it. That life has almost certainly inspired the very hipsters that Bourdain himself openly derided, but that’s a pretty minor complaint when you think about it. He was a man of true pleasure—pleasure in food, pleasure in sex, pleasure in friendship, pleasure in love—and wanting that for yourself is a welcome sin. . .

And I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say the world would be a better place, and can very much be a better place, if everyone followed his lead and took true joy in seeking out and understanding the unknown. That is the greatest and most wondrous indulgence of all. Raise a glass. Cook a pig. Hug a friend. We cannot have Anthony Bourdain’s life, but thanks to him I know damn well that all of us can still have fantastic lives of our own, and that’s no small thing.'

https://www.gq.com/story/rip-anthony-bourdain

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Anthony Bourdain Was the Most Interesting Man in the World. (Original Post) elleng Jun 2018 OP
Certainly a wandering intellectual. Crutchez_CuiBono Jun 2018 #1
Such a loss redstateblues Jun 2018 #2
I've been a fan since 2001. BigmanPigman Jun 2018 #3
And also the best looking MITW to baby boomer women. OMG THAT poster! stuffmatters Jun 2018 #4
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Jun 2018 #5

BigmanPigman

(51,609 posts)
3. I've been a fan since 2001.
Fri Jun 8, 2018, 01:47 PM
Jun 2018

What a shock but not surprised. He was honest and wrote about and showed his dark side and he said he was a malcontent. He was a very sensitive and moody person. I just made a little tribute/shrine with my albums of The Stooges and The Ramones, a shot class, weed and an ashtray and pipe, chop sticks, hot sauce, two of his books and his infamous Clark Desert Boots (well worn). Here's to you Tony.
Time to twist up a fattie. Maybe I'll watch Apocalypse Now too (we both love that film).

stuffmatters

(2,574 posts)
4. And also the best looking MITW to baby boomer women. OMG THAT poster!
Fri Jun 8, 2018, 07:49 PM
Jun 2018

Nobody since Elvis or Steve McQueen except Anthony Bourdain....just saying

I loved Bourdain for so many, many more noble reasons. But it's gotta be said: he was breathtakingly hot too.

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