A Posthumous Anthony Bourdain Travel Guide Is Coming Later This Year

In the months preceding Anthony Bourdain's death in 2018, the late chef, writer, and professional globetrotter was hard at work on his latest book project, a memoir-style travel guide co-authored by his longtime friend and assistant Laurie Woolever. 

Though the collection of "entertaining, practical, fun, and frank" advice, officially titled World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, was unfinished at the time of his death, Woolever -- along with friends, family, and colleagues -- finished the work. And soon, readers will get a posthumous look at Bourdain's favorite destinations and best lessons on "how to get there, what to eat, where to stay and, in some cases, what to avoid," according to a press release from Ecco, the publisher.

The guide, which features an original Tony Millionaire sketch of Bourdain seated outside of a Parisian café, is set for release on October 13, 2020. 

"This book will allow Tony’s fans and followers to continue to travel in his footsteps,” said Woolever in a statement. “It’s been my honor and pleasure to create a book that includes stories from his loved ones and colleagues. I was lucky to work closely with Tony for nearly a decade, and I’m so pleased to be able to share his reflections and insights about the world, as he saw it, in this guide." 

This isn't, however, Woolever's only collaboration with Bourdain. The 45-year-old writer, editor, and close confidant, also co-wrote his final cookbook, Appetites -- but she found new struggles without her mentor's "usual expository writing and post-production input."

"It’s been a wrenching, lurching struggle to get back to [the World Travel] manuscript, as I grieve the enormous loss of his kind, profane, surprising, and brilliant existence,” she told CNN in October 2018, before citing her colleagues and the "beautiful, if heartbreaking, final season of 'Parts Unknown'" as her motivation for finishing.

MORE: Anthony Bourdain's best quotes on food, traveling, and life.

h/tEater


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 Megan Schaltegger is a staff writer at Thrillist. Follow her @MegSchaltegger.