In the Weeds Book

Anthony Bourdain’s longtime director and producer, Tom Vitale, takes readers behind the scenes of their travels together, revealing the chaos of filming television in some of the world’s most remote and volatile places—and what it was really like to work with a legend.

In the years since Bourdain’s death, his passion for discovering new places and genuine curiosity about the people and cultures he encountered have continued to resonate with audiences around the world. Despite his confident, affable, and famously snarky television persona, the real Tony was intensely private, deeply conflicted about his fame, and often an enigma even to those closest to him. As his longtime director and producer, Vitale had a front-row seat to the man behind the camera.

Over more than a decade of travelling together, Bourdain became a boss, friend, hero, and, at times, tormentor. In the Weeds offers an unfiltered look at their adventures, from Borneo and Vietnam to Iran, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Libya.

What appeared on screen as an all-expenses-paid adventure was often unpredictable and chaotic behind the scenes. In fact, the more things went wrong, the better the show became—and things went wrong constantly.

A revealing and entertaining portrait of Anthony Bourdain, In the Weeds captures the madness, humour, and humanity behind the television adventures that brought the world closer together.