Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism [Paperback]

If you are shocked by drug-use and fleeting sexual encounters, then you might find yourself among the many people who were able to ignore the poor writing and self-centered narrative of 'Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?'

If you are the least bit adventurous, have ever traveled under duress, have ever hit a bong or railed a line, then I wager you won't be impressed by the author's antics and self-love.

Author Thomas Kohnstamm must be one of those charming, but thoroughly irresponsible, ne'er-do-wells with whom my past is littered - he certainly has a glib way with words. How else can I explain why I was up all night reading this book, fascination mingled with disgust, as he describes in painful detail his Rabelaisian descent into an underworld of booze, drugs and cheap women while gathering research for the Lonely Planet Guidebook on Brazil.

Whether you are a seasoned traveller or an aficionado of the travel writing genre in all its extremes, you'll want to add this gutter's eye view of travel to your experience, albeit, from the safety of your armchair. But -- be warned - it's not for those of faint heart and queasy stomach. And yet the extreme physical privations Thomas subjects himself to in his quest for information, although perhaps viewed as immoral by many of us, are surely no worse than those endured by the great travellers of the past (Stanley, Scott, Peter Fleming, Eric Newby, Dervla Murphy) and for no better reason.

This book may contain a certain level of hyperbole (one hopes so); after all, hyperbole is the author's business, and he readily describes with an adman's skill how he translates seedy reality into picturesque prose for the guidebook's naïve audience.

Do travel writers go to hell? I'd say Thomas has been there, but hell wouldn't have him.

I know I'll never look at a guidebook the same way again.

I can personally relate to this book as I was forced to flee Sao Luis to escape scamming cops just as Kohnstamm does toward the end of his book. My trip was in 1973, Kohnstamms was in 2004, some things never change. As an ex-Lonely Planet author, I can also relate to Kohnstamms expose about how LP updaters are grossly underpaid. I stopped writing for them in 2002 when I realized I was only breaking even. Of course, it is easy to badmouth Lonely Planet for exploiting their researchers, but are guidebook users willing to pay the real price of their guides? When you consider all the helpful detail available from Lonely Planet, Moon, Lets Go, Rough, Footprint, etc, travel guidebooks are incredibly cheap.

In the book Kohnstamm tells how his research trip to Brazil was a disaster until he discovered that he could become an instant VIP by using the official business cards thoughtfully provided by Lonely Planet. From that point on it is easy going for Thomas with tourism operators falling over each other to show him around, feed and water him, and provide accommodations. If you look in the front of any LP guide you will notice a little disclaimer QUOTE Lonely Planet writers do not accept discounts or payments in exchange for positive coverage of any sort. UNQUOTE Notice the wording. It seems that it is okay to accept discounts and payments so long as they are not tied to positive coverage. Of course, guidebook updaters who do accept freebies will inevitably speak well of their hosts. That is only human nature. Guidebook users pay the price.

Backpackers looking for places to party and sex tourists in search of prey will be attracted to Brazil by this book. However, if you are an aspiring writer hoping to learn something about travel writing, do not expect much as the narrative is mostly about Kohnstamm himself. You could easily skip the first few chapters about his empty life in New York.