Lonely Planet fraudster ”¦ er ”¦ writer Thomas Kohnstamm is trying hard to pooh pooh the controversy surrounding his revelations that he made up large portions of his guidebooks.
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Kohnstamm earlier revealed to an Australian newspaper that his guidebook to Colombia was not even based on an actual visit to the country — he was apparently holed up in considerably less exotic San Francisco penning the guide. The closest he got to Colombia was a girl he dated who worked at the consulate, and who was his source for all information. According to him, the pay was just not enough to actually finance a trip to the country.
Kohnstamm also admitted to doing things that are against Lonely Planet policies — accepting free travel, for instance — and basing his guidebooks on internet research and tourism brochures.
All this “soul searching” comes at an opportune time for Kohnstamm — he has a new book out called Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? and clearly believes there’s no such thing as bad publicity. His comments on his Lonely Planet guidebook stint have been picked by major news agencies, so even if his reputation as a reliable travel writer is in tatters, there’s still the revenue potential from a sizable book deal to be happy about.
If the excerpts from the book are anything to go by, readers may well be disappointed. His descriptions of a restaurant romp on a table with a Brazilian prostitute, after which he proceeds to note down his restaurant review — “table service is friendly” — are irritatingly boastful and shallow in a frat boy style, and hardly gripping.