Smile when you're lying : confessions of a rogue travel writer / Chuck Thompson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thompson, Chuck.

Series:

Holt paperback

A Holt paperback

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Thompson, Chuck--Travel.

Thompson, Chuck.

Voyages and travels.

Travel writing.

Physical Description:

324 pages ; 21 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Holt Paperbacks, 2007.

Summary:

From Bangkok to Bogot, a hilarious behind-the-brochures tour of picture-perfect locales, dangerous destinations, and overrated hellholes from a guy who knows the truth about travel Travel writer, editor, and photographer Chuck Thompson has spent more than a decade traipsing through thirty-five (and counting) countries across the globe, and he's had enough. Enough of the half-truths demanded by magazine editors, enough of the endlessly recycled clichs regarded as good travel writing, and enough of the ugly secrets fiercely guarded by the travel industry. But mostly, he's had enough of returning home from assignments and leaving the most interesting stories and the most provocative insights on the editing-room floor. From getting swindled in Thailand to running afoul of customs inspectors in Belarus, from defusing hostile Swedish rockers backstage in Germany to a closed-door meeting with travel execs telling him why he's about to be fired once again, Thompson's no-holds-barred style is refreshing, invigorating, and all those other adjectives travel writers use to describe spa vacations where the main attraction is a daily colonic. Smile When You're Lying takes readers on an irresistible series of adventures in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and beyond; details the effects of globalization on the casual traveler and ponders the future of travel as we know it; and offers up a treasure trove of travel-industry secrets collected throughout a decidedly speckled career. --From http://www.amazon.com .

Contents:

Introduction: You Deserve Better 1

I Aisle

1 "Welcome to Thailand, Ulysses S. Grant!" 13

2 Baked Alaska: How Drugs, Tourism, and Petroleum Tamed the Last Frontier 45

3 Canned Hams, Kendo Beatdowns, and the Penis Olympics: The Education of an Accidental Ambassador in Japan 65

4 Lost Among Expats: The Shiftless, Debauched, Tedious, and Necessary Existence of Americans Abroad 89

II Middle

5 Why Latin America Isn't the World's Number One Tourist Destination and Probably Never Will Be 117

6 Am I the Only One Who Can't Stand the Caribbean? 137

7 What Lazy Writers, Lonely Planet, and Your Favorite Travel Magazine Don't Want You to Know 163

III Window

8 The Curse of Chinatown: And Other Updated Wisdom for the Modern Traveler 207

9 Boys Gone Wild: How the Philippines Became the Friendliest Country in the World Despite/Because of the U.S. Military 225

10 Is It OK to Miss the Cold War? The Philosophical Dilemma of Eastern Europe 261

11 Not-So-Ugly Americans and the Road of Good Intentions 293.

ISBN:

9780805082098

0805082093

OCLC:

87484530

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description