This was such an enjoyable read! The subject matter was interesting - from learning the ropes in a professional kitchen in NYC, to learning butchery in Tuscany from "the word's most famous butcher", and insights into the history of our relationship with food. Buford manages to combine fact with humour, making this an informative and entertaining book.

Screenwriter Stan Chervin and producer Rachael Horovitz have optioned Bill Buford's 2006 memoir Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker and Apprentice to a Dante-quoting Butcher in Tuscany, Deadline.com reported.

There isn't much literature about the reality of kitchen life, Buford holds little back. His honest account and sincere interest is refreshing. His enthusiasm for reality, contagious. I truly enjoyed this book!

This is the best of the

A fascinating combination of the "inside scoop" on some chef celebrities, behind the scenes in some famous restaurants, and a man's determination to learn all aspects of professional cooking, including an escapade involving the author hauling a 200-pound freshly killed pig up to his New York City high-rise apartment with an appalled businessman sharing his elevator. Readers will not be bored.

If you thought you knew anything about cooking, you will find this book a real eye-opener - as well as a fabulous read! Bill Buford takes us into the real Hell's Kitchens with a insider's insight into a life about which I now realize I knew nothing! - no idea about the amount or extent of the work involved in bringing a meal to my table - no idea of what Italian cooking is all about. A page-turner.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It's a great insight into what happens in a restaurant kitchen. I was surprised to find out that the TV show, Hells Kitchen, was not totally fiction. The book can be a bit graphic, but I found it to be well-written and a good read.