... may well be an even greater pleasure than its predecessor.

You can almost taste the food in Bill Buford’s Dirt, an engrossing, beautifully written memoir about his life as a cook in France.

This is a more sober book than Heat. It’s as if Johnny Cash followed up 'Get Rhythm,' as a jukebox single, with 'Hurt.'.

Like all sequels, Dirt struggles with the successful formula of its predecessor.

[Buford] delves into the controversial origins of French cuisine and restaurants, drawing unflinching portraits of past and present luminaries like culinary school founder Paul Bocuse himself. He pursues origins of dishes, sauces, and their ingredients, even participating in the stark grittiness of butchering a pig and learning that in France the best, most coveted flavors come from the earthiest animal organs. An inside look into haute cuisine..

The things that I like about this book—sometimes, I love them almost as much as I love a fat, chewy slice of saucisson secare—are also the things that make it flawed. I adore Buford’s enthusiasm, which is unstinting, endlessly curious and absolutist in the best sense (no, he will not hang out with other expats; yes, he will try to enjoy the piggiest treats, even when all he can taste is the sty). But could he not, sometimes, rein himself in just a little?.

An often funny and eye-opening behind-the-scenes look at haute cuisine, as well as life as an expat in France. Readers will be engrossed not only by Buford’s story, but that of his family as well..

If restaurants and travel are high on the list of things you miss most during lockdown, I heartily recommend Bill Buford's Dirt. This is a writer who gives new meaning to the expression 'glutton for punishment'.

... a welcome reminder of simpler times.

The subtitle attempts to prepare the reader for the book’s sweep, but this sprawling memoir exceeds even those generous borders.

There is evidently a sort of man-of-action masochism at play. The more hurtful the better. Niceness doesn’t make good copy.

Buford's impetuousness comes off as charmingly enthusiastic.

... raises one’s eyebrows again and again. While readers may not come away with the thought that you have to be stupid to pursue a restaurant career, it’s likely at least that the word 'crazy' might apply?.

... funny, irreverent and obsessive.

Buford delivers a vivid and often laugh-out-loud account of the tribulations, humblings, and triumphs he and his family endured in the five years they lived in France.

... ebullient, entertaining.