THE LEMON

After a beloved chef/author/TV star dies, his reputation hangs by a thread.

They say writing is a lonely business, but the three people behind the nom de plume S.E. Boyd—journalists Kevin Alexander and Joe Keohane and book editor Alessandra Lusardi—prove with their debut that a group can write a helluva novel. Hip-deep in knowing detail from the worlds of food, media, and Hollywood, they pull off a saucy spin on the death of Anthony Bourdain—only in this version, his name is John Doe, he dies while filming in Ireland, and his asphyxiation is not the result of despair but the accidental outcome of a certain sexual practice. If your Bourdain-loving hackles go up in response to this ploy, know that the book manages to artfully defang that reaction, both because the whole thing is actually about the potential effect of a salacious detail on a posthumous reputation and because in every other way John Doe is an embodiment of everything great about Bourdain. As in life, his body is discovered by a friend who's a renowned chef: "There were three chefs in the world more famous than Paolo Cabrini, all of whom were French and two of whom were dead. Paolo had cooked for five presidents, four kings, three prime ministers, two chancellors, and One Direction, which he learned was a pop band." Unfortunately, a loutish Irish bellhop named Smilin' Charlie McCree (not the strongest character in the book but a necessary one) manages to get an embarrassing photo of Paolo with his friend's corpse. Unfortunately, a desperate content provider at a trashy website makes up a fake anecdote about Doe that goes viral. Unfortunately, Nia Greene, the agent who has devoted her whole life to Doe's career, must now devote her life to controlling these problems. Meanwhile, those details! Honey-baked ham, Substack, secret rooms within secret rooms, Asian-Irish fusion cuisine, high-end interior design as a front for contract killing. They are as good as they can possibly be. Or better.

A hilarious, brilliant, cynical (and maybe even a little sad) takedown of the moral vacuum that is celebrity culture.