Laurie Woolever, a former assistant to Anthony Bourdain, gathered a lot of voices—the list takes up seven pages—to create this “oral biography,” voiced by some of those who knew the chef and TV travel host, who took his own life in 2018. The most memorable voice is that of Bourdain’s brother, Christopher, whose affection and wry humor show in his recollections. A tone of bluntness is not surprising when chefs who worked with Bourdain talk about the drug and alcohol abuse that helped shape his “bad boy” image; he acknowledged his own past in KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL. Listeners may be surprised as Bourdain’s story becomes darker through his TV years. People who worked with him express concern and regret about the spiral they saw during his relationship with director Asia Argento. J.A.S. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
Duration: 11 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063138704
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Throughout this solid performance, listeners will hear both pain and steadfastness.
This is a different take on the celebrity memoir. Lundgren, the Swede best known as Russian fighting behemoth Drago in Rocky IV, offers a straightforward, unadorned, and candid text with a workmanlike narration that suits his firsthand reflections. The perspectives of male members of his entourage, such as his managers and trainers, are voiced with great skill and variety by Rick Adamson, while personal reflections from women are voiced by the equally skilled Nan McNamara. Lundgren has suffered multiple bouts of cancer, and his memoir goes beyond karate belts and film performances to focus on his health battles. Now an American citizen, Lundgren shares his love for his adopted country.
Throughout this solid performance, listeners will hear both pain and steadfastness.Pub Date: today
Duration: 5 hrs, 43 mins
DD ISBN: 9781400255214
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
In a book that often holds listeners at arm’s length, even as MacLachlan describes his own reticence, it’s a...
Audio is the ideal medium for experiencing MacLachlan’s smart, well-written memoir, which he narrates himself—and it’s the only format that’ll allow you to hear MacLachlan’s pitch-perfect impressions of figures like Anthony Hopkins, Ethan Hawke, and, of course, David Lynch, with whom MacLachlan maintained a close creative and personal relationship. A point midway through the audiobook, when MacLachlan describes the time he and Hopkins sat around trading Lynch impressions—and then impersonates Hopkins’ impersonation of Lynch—is a particular high point. As he recounts his well-known roles and occasional missteps, MacLachlan returns often to the idea that actors, especially, maintain multiple selves: There’s the private, interior self, but also the public self who finds his face splashed across billboards—and occasionally, the two find themselves untethered from each other.
In a book that often holds listeners at arm’s length, even as MacLachlan describes his own reticence, it’s a perfect motif.Pub Date: today
Duration: 10 hrs, 32 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217406883
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: today
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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