Bone in the Throat [Paperback]

Anthony Bourdain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2000

A wildly funny, irreverent tale of murder, mayhem, and the mob.

When up-and-coming chef Tommy Pagana settles for a less than glamorous stint at his uncle's restaurant in Manhattan's Little Italy, he unwittingly finds himself a partner in big-time crime. And when the mob decides to use the kitchen for a murder, nothing Tommy learned in cooking school has prepared him for what happens next. With the FBI on one side, and his eccentric wise guy superiors on the other, Tommy has to struggle to do right by his conscience, and to avoid getting killed in the meantime.

In the vein of Prizzi's Honor , Bone in the Throat is a thrilling Mafia caper laced with entertaining characters and wry humor. This first novel is a must-have for fans of Anthony Bourdain's nonfiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First-time author Bourdain presents a savory portion of gangster tartare spiced with salty mobspeak, coked-up chefs, wild entrepreneurs and foul-mouthed feds, served up in the colorful ambience of Manhattan's Little Italy. The FBI is using a former dentist to open and run a restaurant in a sting operation designed to catch 280-pound loan shark "Sally Wig" Patera-a crazed mafioso assigned to do the Don's dirty work. The deluded dentist thinks he really runs the Dreadnaught Grill and blows FBI cash on dumb marketing schemes instead of paying Sally's dues and vig. Meanwhile, Sally's nephew, Tommy Pagano, sous chef at the Dreadnaught, who loathes both his uncle and mob life, still feels loyal to the Family and so gives Sally after-hours use of the kitchen to "talk some business." But Tommy isn't happy when Sally and Skinny di Milito-who strips naked before his hits to cut down on blood-spatter cleanup-kill a fellow mobster and cut up the body with the chef's knife. Though the FBI pressures Tommy hard to sell out his uncle, he stays loyal, at least until the restaurant, the chef and his cooking career are threatened by Sally and Skinny, pushing him into unexpected action. The cast of this dark-humored, street-smart novel romps through Greenwich Village and Little Italy on a testosterone high in a perfect sendup of macho mobsters and feebs alike, while the kitchen antics reveal a real love for-and knowledge of-cooking, including a mouth-watering recipe for Portuguese Seafood Chowder, complete with squid, lobster, swordfish and cherrystone clams. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Bourdain's tongue-in-cheek wiseguy novel features an up-and-coming young chef who owes his position in a New York restaurant to his uncle, a Mob collector^-hit man who has loaned a considerable sum to the restaurant owner. Mobster Sal the Wig and Tommy, the sous-chef, are both unaware that state and federal agents have set up the owner, Harvey, as a plant to uncover extortion, murder, and whatever other criminal activities occur in Harvey's presence or the eaterie. The combination of fine food and sordid slayings makes an irresistible novel, but perhaps not one to savor while dining. Denise Perry Donavin --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (September 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582341028
• ISBN-13: 978-1582341026
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anthony Bourdain is the author of the novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo, in addition to the megabestsellers Medium Raw, Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour. His work has appeared in the New York Times and the New Yorker, and he is a contributing authority for Food Arts magazine. He is the host of the popular television show No Reservations.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I was surprised, October 3, 2005

By 

Hortensia "Sunshine" (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bone in the Throat (Paperback)

I was surprised at how the book held my interest. Although I really enjoyed Kitchen Confidential, I somehow thought Bourdain's writing ability might not cross over to fiction. This isn't a mystery at all; it might be better to call it crime fiction. His writing is direct and understated, no hyperbole, no "creative writing" attempts. For instance when he describes sex he uses straightforward and understated rather than overdone language, and it is much more effective than more blowsy prose. I like his sentence structure and choice of words. I could see the action and the characters very clearly in my mind while reading the book and didn't want to put it down. Warning though: this is pretty violent stuff.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Raw meat., April 25, 2001

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bone in the Throat (Paperback)

Set in the Bronx and Brooklyn, this is a grisly and graphic story of mob murder, dismemberment, and torture, along with the businesses of protection, loansharking, and money laundering. Tommy Pagano, the sous-chef at a small restaurant, who was cared for as a child by his mob-connected uncle Sal Pitera, finds himself up to his prime rib in dangerous mob business when Sally wants payback. Sandwiched between bloodthirsty racketeers on one side and equally threatening and sinister investigators who want him to give up Sally and his "friends" on the other side, Tommy has more than ample reason to fear for his life.

Suspense and horror are leavened throughout by humor, which comes mainly from absurdities--a hitman standing naked while he dismembers a body in order to protect his clothes, a chef upset because someone used his kitchen knife instead of a boning knife, a mobster telling a hitman that his actions were "bush." This is primarily is a fast-paced story of murder and mayhem, with humor on the side and lots of insights into the restaurant business. Local color, realistic-sounding (and often funny) wise-guy dialogue, an engaging main character with whom we sympathize, and investigators who are sometimes as venal as the men they investigate will keep you reading well into the night. Mary Whipple

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Characters Abound in Fantastic Mafia Story, September 25, 2000

By 

Jason Birkby - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bone in the Throat (Paperback)

Let's Face it the gangster genre needed some help. Not since Steve Thayer's "Saint Mudd" has there been a solid mafia based novel. I stumbled upon Anthony Bourdain's and found his first novel, "Bone in the Throat" full of vivid characters that jump off the page, a story line that was very tight and not watered down, which also has a good solid pace.

The story revolves around Tommy Pagano who after losing his father due to mob ties, decides to try something else. Tommy refuses his Uncle Sal's offer to join the family business and chases down his dream of becoming a famous chef. Tommy however lands a job as a sous-chef at a restaurant, which his Uncle does business at. Tommy ends up doing one (against his better judgment) for his uncle and quickly finds himself in the middle of an FBI investigation. Tommy's friends, mainly Chef Ricard find themselves being pinched for information. Tommy faces hard time, and if he talks he knows what will happen next.

To find out what happens I strongly recommend picking up "Bone in the Throat". It is a true treat for those who enjoy mafia fiction. Even those who don't will enjoy the colorful characters, awesome dialogue and fast paced story.