Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism
For those who think that travel guidebooks are the gospel truth. WANTED: Travel Writer for Brazil QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED Decisiveness: the ability to desert your entire previous life–including well-salaried office job, attractive girlfriend, and basic sanity for less than minimum wage ...
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For those who think that travel guidebooks are the gospel truth. WANTED: Travel Writer for Brazil QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED Decisiveness: the ability to desert your entire previous life–including well-salaried office job, attractive girlfriend, and basic sanity for less than minimum wage Attention to detail: the skill to research northeastern Brazil, including transportation, restaurants, hotels, culture, customs, and language, while juggling sleep deprivation, nonstop nightlife, and excessive alcohol consumption Creativity: the imagination to write about places you never actually visit Resourcefulness: utilizing persuasion, seduction, and threats, when necessary, to secure a place to stay for the evening once your pitiable advance has been (mis)spent Resilience: determination to overcome setbacks such as bankruptcy, disillusionment, and an ill-fated one-night stand with an Austrian flight attendant As Kohnstamm comes to personal terms with each of these job requirements, he unveils the underside of the travel industry and its often-harrowing effect on writers, travelers, and the destinations themselves. Moreover, he invites us into his world of compromising and scandalous situations in one of the most exciting countries as he races against an impossible deadline.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780307394651 (0307394654)
Publish date: April 22nd 2008
Publisher: Broadway Books
Pages no: 272
Edition language: English
Category:
Non Fiction,
Travel,
Humor,
Autobiography,
Memoir,
Biography,
Writing,
Travelogue,
Cultural,
Book Club,
Journalism,
Brazil
I am not giving this book five stars because I thought it was exceptional writing. It was good writing, but not great. However, it was a hell of a lot of fun to read. It surprises me to say that because I almost took the book back to the library after the first two chapters. I'm glad I decided t...
Kohnstamm's memoir is not so much about writing his first guidebook for Lonely Planet as it is a self-congratulatory screed lauding substance abuse, poor choices, dubious sexual encounters, and generally unpleasant behavior. Kohnstamm seems to think he's charming and attractive, yet there's little i...
Wow, did I hate this book. What an ass.