''Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?'' is a memoir and gonzo travelogue written by

Thomas Kohnstamm Thomas Kohnstamm (born ) is an American author from Seattle, Washington. Fiction Kohnstamm announced in late 2023 that his next novel, Supersonic, will publish in early 2025. His first noveLake Citywas published by Counterpoint Press in Januar ...

and published by

Three Rivers Press Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprints ...

. Kohnstamm claimed in an interview (not related to the book) to have written the front section material of a Lonely Planet guide to Colombia without having made a specific research trip for that project. This led to the publisher carrying out an urgent review of the content which did not reveal any inaccuracies. In his book, Kohnstamm said he was given only 60 days to cover a 1000 mile stretch of northern Brazil for the 2005 Lonely Planet guide to the country. Insufficient time and money to do the job led him to compile information from secondary sources which he described as a "mozaic job." He insinuated that this was common practice in the industry. The book was met with a global media coverage prior to its release and positive reviews when it hit the shelves in April 2008. A book review in '' The New York Times'' calls "this rollicking exposé of the travel book industry...the most depraved travel book of the year". The book was also criticised by Robert Hauptman who said that the author "did many distasteful things", described one incident related in the text as "nauseating" and considered his attitude to be cynical. There was some controversy when the book was released.

References

2008 non-fiction books Travel autobiographies American travel books American autobiographies American memoirs Three Rivers Press books {{travel-book-stub