Product Description
From the best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential comes this true, thrilling tale of pursuit through the kitchens of New York City at the turn of the century.
By the late nineteenth century, it seemed that New York City had put an end to the outbreaks of typhoid fever that had so frequently decimated the city's population. That is until 1904, when the disease broke out in a household in Oyster Bay, Long Island. Authorities suspected the family cook, Mary Mallon, of being a carrier. But before she could be tested, the woman, soon to be known as Typhoid Mary, had disappeared. Over the course of the next three years, Mary worked at several residences, spreading her pestilence as she went. In 1907, she was traced to a home on Park Avenue, and taken into custody. Institutionalized at Riverside Hospital for three years, she was released only when she promised never to work as a cook again. She promptly disappeared.
For the next five years Mary worked in homes and institutions in and around New York, often under assumed names. In February 1915, a devastating outbreak of typhoid at the Sloane Hospital for Women was traced to her. She was finally apprehended and reinstitutionalized at Riverside Hospital, where she would remain for the rest of her life.
Typhoid Mary is the story of her infamous life. Anthony Bourdain reveals the seedier side of the early 1900s, and writes with his renowned panache about life in the kitchen, uncovering the horrifying conditions that allowed the deadly spread of typhoid over a decade. Typhoid Mary is a true feast for history lovers and Bourdain lovers alike.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 18 reviews)

Highly Recommended

This is a very interesting book. Aside from learning about Mary, you also get a history of New York City.
November 21, 2007

ANTHONY BOURDAIN DELIVERS

Anthony Bourdain provides a good, solid story, written in his fluid, irreverent prose. Too bad he says he'll not revisit this genre (non-fiction, historical), because he makes history fun to read. He puts Typhoid Mary in an historical and culinary context, as only he can do.
August 11, 2007

Entertaining, But Lightweight

An entertaining urban historical of the infamous Typhoid Mary Mallon - the Irish cook with pestilence coursing through her ... um... bum. This one is a bit different because it's written by a chef who looks at Mary's life from the perspective of what it must have been like for a hard-working immigrant cook at the turn of the century, and he throws in a lot of details regarding the lack of cleanliness of the time which makes it a bit more understandable why Mary didn't tend to wash her hands after relieving herself, and thus prevent the spread of Typhoid Fever. Bourdain is decidedly sympathetic of Mary, when it's pretty obvious that Mary had a whole lot to do with bringing her misfortune upon herself... which makes you wonder: if Bourdain were offered some of Mary's trademark peach ice cream, would he have eaten it?
December 04, 2006

Love Bourdain!

I really like Anthony Bourdain's writing style. It's conversational and unpretentious. This is a great book if you don't know the story of Typhoid Mary; however, if you are already familiar with it and are looking for something in depth with lots of details, this might not be perfect.

I'm looking forward to reading more from Bourdain.
July 13, 2006

The Best History Books are NOT Written by Historians

It just goes to show what someone with some desire to learn and a talent for writing can do. Tony Bourdain proves it yet again with his interesting and well-researched look at Typhoid Mary. Who knew she was a cook? I bet most people think she was a prostitute (I did). Bravo to Tony for having the ingenuity and the humility to do some top notch historical research here and produce a useful work of historical scholarship.
March 09, 2005

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