Do Travel Writers Go To Hell?

Reviews

A comic rogue who seems to have modeled his life and prose on Hunter S. Thompson’s… I could not get enough of the most depraved travel book of the year.
-The New York Times, read full article

Hilarious...
-The New York Times Book Review, read full review

The colorful adventures of a budding travel writer in Brazil… a wonderfully picaresque journey through the vibrant Brazilian landscape… Readers will relish the countless stories of the author's misadventures, but Kohnstamm brings more than just anecdotes: He offers a solid understanding of the mechanics of the travel-writing industry and a unique ability to illuminate that world to readers. Notable for its spirited prose and insightful exploration of the less-romantic side of travel writing. Kohnstamm is one to watch.
-Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review), read full review

the shot heard 'round the travel world…
-The Washington Post, read full article

A guidebook writer reveals the truth about his trade, in detail that will shock and awe.
-Outside, read full interview

It’s Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, but with tourism… [Lonely Planet CEO] Ms. Slatyer made Mr. Kohnstamm’s book sound dangerous.
-The New York Observer, read full article

Kohnstamm is nobody's model travel journalist, except maybe Hunter Thompson's… [he’s the] sudden enfant terrible of his field… Do Travel Writers Go To Hell? is the best-written, funniest book of travel literature since Phaic Tan.
-The Philadelphia Inquirer, read full review

[Kohnstamm]’s the first to blow the whistle on the travel industry’s dirty little secret.
-T Magazine, The Moment blog, The New York Times, read full posting

it’s tempting to compare the book to the backpacker novel The Beach by Alex Garland.
-World Hum

Spread-eagled stewardesses, drunken fistfights, and an exploration of the desperado underbelly of travel writing - you might think any self-respecting female reader would throw this book against the wall. Not so. Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? will appeal to anyone, male or female, who's ever been young, dumb, and full of rum. Kohnstamm's journey through Brazil is a darkly hilarious, killer read."
-Maria Dahvana Headley, author of The Year of Yes

[A] funny, hedonistic book of misadventure, Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?…is closer in spirit to Hunter S. Thompson than Paul Theroux….When Kohnstamm departs from bars and bed-hopping to persuade himself into serious research, he takes a scalpel to the guide book trade.
-The New Zealand Herald, read full article

Sharp writing and self-deprecating wit add spice to a chronicle of the sometimes absurd world of guidebook writing. (In one memorable scene, he gets thrown out of a hotel he is researching because he looks—accurately—too poor to stay there.) There’s food for thought, too, about Lonely Planet’s journey from backpacker tip sheet to faux-hobo itinerary and the aftereffects of the travel it promotes. Kohnstamm’s hedonism is heroic, but it’s his willingness to think about hedonism’s consequences that makes this worth reading.
-Booklist, read full review

…the author [is] squarely in the mold of Richard from The Beach… but Alex Garland's narrator was never as disoriented as Kohnstamm--or as dedicated.
-Jaunted, read full review

The primary appeal of Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? lies in his knack for telling a good story [and] his extreme candor…. Tossing in everything from cultural customs to genuinely helpful travel tips along the way, Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? actually seconds as a pretty useful travel guide… one that’s far more entertaining than anything Lonely Planet ever put out.
-INsite Magazine, Atlanta’s Entertainment Monthly

Kohnstamm’s wild ‘n’ crazy adventures made me think of Glasgow Phillips’ Royal Nonesuch: or, What Will I Do When I Grow Up? and also Dan Dunn’s Nobody Likes a Quitter (and Other Reasons to Avoid Rehab): The Loaded Life of an Outlaw Booze Writer…and also Tom Sykes’ What Did I Do Last Night?… I think Kohnstamm’s book is actually the best of the lot… his sharp, funny writing and self-deprecation save the day.
-Keir Graff, Likely Stories, a Booklist Blog, read full posting