Bux--
First of all, the book is not simply a string of drunken misadventures. Neither is it a compendium of wise cultural observations. Bourdain eats a lot of good food and is sober enough to describe it to my satisfaction.
There have been an endless number of books written about the "middle ground" between going native and going Hilton. My own travel writing--and yours, I think--is very much in this vein. When I travel, I want to learn things I couldn't from the guidebook, but I'm not particularly wild and crazy even though I'll eat anything. Calvin Trillin, Jeffrey Steingarten, and many others seem to fall into this same category.
For me, travel is largely about the food, and "adventure travel" books that don't go into detail about the meals bore me. What is there for the food-obsessed reader who wants a little vicarious adventure? There's Richard Sterling, who I disbelieve most of the time and whose main goal seems to be impressing the reader. Then there's Bourdain's book, which avoids Sterling-style self-involvement by never straying far from the dinner table. And I think the book is much weirder and less macho than one would gather from reading this topic.
As for the booze, I can recall one time that I've been in a cultural context where alcohol was being foisted on me endlessly. It was the first time I went to London, and I had friends there who took me to a string of pubs. I could have stopped drinking or gone home at any time, but pub culture was something I'd heard a lot about, and here was my opportunity to experience just a little slice. It was something best experienced drunk, and there are other bits of the world best viewed through the same blurry lens. I doubt I'd want to experience most of them, but if they involve great food, I certainly want to read about them.
