This spring, the media was all atwitter about Thomas Kohnstamm's new "tell-all" book: Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?

Kohnstamm, a 32 year old author from Seattle, who had written for a number of publications including Lonely Planet, plagiarized and outright fabricated much of his work, the press said.

Lonely Planet was quick to denounce Kohnstamm. And the media had a field day, from the New York Times to the Podunk Tribune.

Ignore all of this noise. Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? is a fascinating, fun read. Further, the author isn't the six-headed hydra monster he has been made out to be.

Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? is, in many ways, a critical look at the world at large. Much of it centers around Kohnstamm's personal journey as from bored Wall Street financial professional, to extremely bored clothes salesman, to disillusioned travel writer boozing and carousing his way through Brazil for Lonely Planet.

This book is part comedy and part tragedy, part Ugly American-goes-on-vacation and part serious critique.

A reader will laugh out loud at the tales Kohnstamm tells on himself; getting laid in a small fishing boat one gorgeous night in Rio de Janeiro by a beautiful Brazilian woman-- an archetypal American male fantasy until the boat's owner shows up--aptly enraged, of course!-- is one example.

Still, there is something very serious going on here. During a trip for Lonely Planet through Brazil, Kohnstamm begins his travelogue trying to do things the right way: no favors, no freebies. However, as he begins to run low on cash, his ethics change. There isn't time to do everything or visit everywhere-- and certainly not on the stipend Lonely Planet has provided him.

As Kohnstamm's sense of moral rectitude fades, Kohnstamm takes tips from veteran renegades at Lonely Planet. As the trip wears on, a free meal here or a free room there becomes de rigeur-- and the author's disillusionment takes hold.

Troubling? You bet. A corruption of the product? Sure. Detrimental to travelers? Perhaps some, but I traveled in Brazil with the Lonely Planet guide that Kohnstamm contributed to and found the book quite good.

You won't have to look far in these pages to see the author's sentimental side, either. For instance, Kohnstamm hurts out loud about his girlfriend who ditched him when he chose the life of a travel writer.

Check out his website and you will see pictures of his dog, quotes from fellow travel author Paul Theroux, and pictures from his "patron saint", frustrated businessman-turned-hijacker D.B. Cooper. This guy can't be all that bad.

I highly recommend Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? especially if you have traveled a good bit. It will make you laugh, it will make you come close to crying once or twice, and it will definitely make you think-- especially about the $19.95 travel book you just bought at Barnes & Noble.

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Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics & Professional Hedonism. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2008. 270 pages, paperback. $13.95.

Recommended: Yes