The Bobby Gold Stories by Anthony Bourdain

The Bobby Gold Stories
Anthony Bourdain
2002, Bloomsbury, New York
1582342334
165p.

Bobby Gold is an ex-con heavy working for some of New York's finest criminal element. He is quite happy doing their dirty work until he meets Nikki, a chef, and then things get a bit out of hand.

I read this in one sitting, but not because it's the greatest book ever written ... it is written in a very simple style. I suppose this means it would be ideal for reluctant adult readers, but it had the potential to be a better book. Still, the set-up was good and the characters memorable, so I would say it's a fine example of the genre for the male I've-never-read-a-book-since-they-made-us-in-high-school crowd.

However, it says 'A Novel' on the front cover, so I would love to see this written as a novel, and not a novella. It leaves the reader itching to know more of the background of the characters. I mean, Bobby Gold, a Jewish pre-med student winds up in prison becoming best buddies with a bunch of huge Aryan Nation guys ... come on! That deserves more than two sentences in the middle of a paragraph!

I suppose there could always be sequels.

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