I heart Michael Ruhlman, and not just because he's cute. This book is about his journey through the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) program. A great nonfiction writer, Ruhlman has the gift of not making himself part of the story, except to tell the story in an interesting, compelling, cleanly written way.
Another great book by Ruhlman is
The Soul of a Chef, where he follows a group of students taking the Master Chef course at the CIA, hangs out in the kitchen with Michael Symon of Cleveland's Lola, and tells the story of Thomas Keller of French Laundry.
