Bourdain is an American author, executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles in NYC, and host of the Travel Channel’s culinary and cultural adventure program No Reservations. He is known for being edgy and provocative; his many epicurean exploits have included instances of him eating ant eggs in Mexico, a raw seal eyeball in the Arctic, and a live cobra in Vietnam. He initially gained popularity with his bestselling book about the darker side of the restaurant industry. What is the book called? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Jhumpa Lahiri is a contemporary Indian-American (Bengali) author based in New York City. Her debut, Interpreter of Maladies, addresses sensitive dilemmas in the lives of Indian immigrants, exploring themes involving marital difficulties, miscarriages, and the disconnection between first and second generation immigrants in the US. A film adaptation of her novel, The Namesake, will be released in November 2007. She is a vice president of what important organization? 
Jet Li is a Chinese martial artist and action star, one of the few actors from China who have achieved fame outside of Asia. When he was 8, Li’s mother sent him to train in wushu, an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. He became an expert and won 15 gold medals in the Chinese championships, earning him fame and leading to a career as an action star. In 2004, Li suffered what injuries when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit the Maldives? 
Witch hazel refers to a family of trees and shrubs found in Japan, China, and North America. They are deciduous shrubs that usually grow 10-26 ft (3-8 m) tall but can reach 40 ft (12 m). The fruit of the witch hazel is a two-parted capsule, 1 cm long, that bursts in Autumn and shoots seeds up to 33 ft (10 m) away. The plant’s hard wood is used in cabinet making, and an astringent is extracted from its bark and leaves. The plant’s branches have been used in what form of divination? 
In Greek mythology, Medusa was the most famous of the three monstrous Gorgon sisters. She was once a beautiful woman, but she offended Athena, who changed her hair into snakes and made her face so hideous that all who looked at her were turned to stone. When Medusa was with child by Poseidon, Perseus beheaded her. What creatures sprang from her blood? 
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and extremely poisonous gas. It is present in the exhaust of internal-combustion engines, such as in automobiles, and is generated in coal stoves, furnaces, and gas appliances that do not get enough air. Breathing air that contains as little as 0.1% carbon monoxide by volume can be fatal; a concentration of about 1% can cause death within a few minutes. What are the early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning? 
The tooth fairy is a character in modern Western culture that attends a child’s loss of a deciduous tooth. In Spanish and Italian culture, the tooth fairy takes the form of a little mouse. Typically, a child who has just lost a tooth places it under his or her pillow before going to sleep; in the morning, the child finds that the tooth has been replaced by a coin, a dollar bill, or a present. What is the origin of the tooth fairy character? 
Midwifery is the art of assisting at childbirth. In ancient Greece and Rome, midwives had some formal training, but as the medical arts declined during medieval times, the skills a midwife possessed were gained solely from experience and lore. With the upsurge in medical science in Europe in the 16th c., formal medical training became more prevalent and professional schools of midwifery were established. How are the criteria for becoming a midwife in the US different from those in the UK? 
Medina is a city in Saudi Arabia, 110 mi (177 km) inland from the Red Sea in a well-watered oasis where fruit, dates, vegetables, and grain are raised. Muhammad gained control of the city in 622 and used it as a base for converting and conquering Arabia. It grew rapidly until 661, when the Umayyad dynasty transferred the capital of the caliphate to Damascus. Pilgrimages to Mecca usually include a side trip to Medina, where the Prophet’s Mosque houses the tombs of what important Islamic figures? 
Vieques is an island-municipality of Puerto Rico, located east of the Puerto Rican mainland. Most of Vieques was within US military installations from the 1940s. The facilities included a live-ammunition training area for the US navy, a use that was the subject of protests by many Puerto Ricans. In 2001 the federal government announced that it would halt all military exercises on the island by May, 2003. The former installations are now being converted to what?