Lonely Liar

The publisher of Lonely Planet guide books is red-faced at news that writer Thomas Kohnstamm made up some parts of the books, and didn't even visit one of the countries he wrote about.

I used a Lonely Planet book back in my hitch hiking days. It came in pretty handy when I wanted to find a two-bit hostel or a cheap watering hole. Today, I doubt I would even bother with a guide book, as the internet trumps them all. Besides, most of the guide books only want to tell you about museums, statues and river tours. Where's the fun in that? I was always more interested in where the hot chicks hung out, or where I could get a two dollar margarita.

It doesn't sound like Kohnstamm's lies did much damage. According to the publisher, they've vetted some of the books and couldn't find anything wrong with them. No shocker. The Lonely Planet series is short on descriptions and long on options. It wouldn't take a genius to Google "Buenos Aires" and copy the names of cheap hotels and restaurants.

Kohnstamm says he made the books up because Lonely Planet didn't pay him enough. I believe him. Writers' salaries are going further down the drain every day. Look up "Writing Jobs" on craigslist and you'll see that roughly 80% are non-paying gigs, the rest paying only enough to cover mileage.

Unless you're a bigshot, writing is a part-time gig or a hobby. The fact that Lonely Planet didn't see how they'd be had before now is the only surprising thing to come out of this story. Whether lonely of not, the planet has become www.small.

Does that excuse Kohnstamm? No. Do I feel sorry for Lonely Planet? Ditto.

Now the publisher has a whole new problem on their hands: how many other books have been done in the same vein, and how will they ever find out?

Answer: they won't.

More on the story here.