Brenna B. (demiducky25) reviewed on 3/15/2009 + 161 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 4

This story is told by a cook about a cook. Bourdain takes the reader on an inside look on what happened in early turn-of-the-century kitchens (and sometimes still does happen, YIKES). He tries to show the reader what this experience would have been like from Mary's point of view as a proud cook suddenly told that she can no longer do what she was born to do. This is not a pure history book if that's what you are looking for; rather it provides a snapshot of the type of world Mary Mallon (Typhoid Mary) lived in and provides reasons from a cook's point of view about why Mary continued to seek employment in the food industry even after it was proven that she was a carrier. It reads more like a conversation or a psychological profile than a history text, which makes it a quick and light read, but I wish I learned more about Mary's actual life than just speculations on why she may have done the things she did.

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