HEAT An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany

If you can't stand the heat, you weren't meant to be a chef. Writer Bill Buford explores the fast-paced restaurant kitchens of New York City. In depicting the nuances, adventures, and even casualities of the high-end food service industry, he describes his real-life attempts to sweat it out in some of the best restaurants around, including working under the talented Mario Batali. Combining elements of cultural history, biography, travel, and investigative reporting, Buford's writing talent certainly exceeds his narrator skills. Though his voice is engaging, his projection lacks energy, and the intensity of his text fails to come through in his performance. Yet Buford maintains consistency throughout while also producing distinctly different voices for his cast. L.E. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]