# Thomas Kohnstamm

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{{Short description|American writer}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [:Template:Infobox writer/doc](/source/%3ATemplate%3AInfobox_writer%2Fdoc) -->
|image = 
|imagesize =  |
|name =Thomas Kohnstamm
|pseudonym =
|birth_date ={{birth date and age|1975|11|24}}
|birth_place=[Seattle](/source/Seattle), [Washington](/source/Washington_(U.S._state)), [United States](/source/United_States)
|death_date =
|death_place=
|occupation =[Writer](/source/Writer), [video producer](/source/video_producer) 
|genre = [Non-fiction](/source/Non-fiction), [fiction](/source/fiction)
|movement =
|notableworks=''[Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?](/source/Do_Travel_Writers_Go_to_Hell%3F)'' ''[http://www.lakecitybook.com Lake City]''
|influences = 
|influenced =
}}

'''Thomas Kohnstamm''' (born {{birth date|1975|11|24}}) is an American author from Seattle, Washington. 

==Fiction==

Kohnstamm announced in late 2023 that his next novel, ''Supersonic'', will publish in early 2025. His first novel ''[http://www.lakecitybook.com Lake City]'' was published by [Counterpoint Press](/source/Counterpoint_Press) in January 2019. The dark comedy was called “a caustic satire on class privilege and deprivation” by [The Seattle Times](/source/The_Seattle_Times)<ref>https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/in-lake-city-a-neer-do-well-narrator-prowls-seattles-back-streets/ The Seattle Times</ref> and “hip, intrepid, and philosophical” by [Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly).<ref>https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-64009-142-9 Publishers Weekly</ref>

==Non-fiction==

Kohnstamm's book ''[Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?](/source/Do_Travel_Writers_Go_to_Hell%3F)'', a [gonzo](/source/Gonzo_journalism) style memoir was published by [Random House](/source/Random_House)/[Three Rivers Press](/source/Three_Rivers_Press) in April 2008. The author drew criticism, and according to the author, death threats,<ref>{{cite news
|author=KC Summers and Thomas Kohstamm
|title=Can You Trust your Travel Guidebook?
|date=April 29, 2008
|work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)
|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/04/25/DI2008042502737_pf.html
}}</ref> after he said in publicizing the book that he had performed a "desk update" of a guidebook - before later clarifying that he had only been commissioned to write the front-of-book (introduction, history, culture, etc) chapters and oversee the other writers.<ref name=Hum>{{cite news|author=Frank Bures|author-link=Frank Bures|title=Thomas Kohnstamm's Lonely Planet: The Firestorm Around 'Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?'|date=April 14, 2008|work=World Hum|url=http://www.worldhum.com/qanda/item/thomas_kohnstamm_the_firestorm_around_do_travel_writers_go_to_hell_20080414/}}</ref><ref name=Delusion>{{cite news
|author=Peter Munro
|title=A guide delusion makes it Lonely at the top
|date=May 4, 2008
|work=[The Age](/source/The_Age)
|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/guide-delusion/2008/05/03/1209235234265.html
}}</ref> He also called into question both the accuracy and the practices of his fellow travel guide writers.<ref>{{cite news|author=Tim Shipman|title=A travel writer on a not so lonely planet|date=April 14, 2008|work=[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1584987/A-travel-writer-on-a-not-so-lonely-planet.html}}</ref>

Lonely Planet's publisher Piers Pickard defended their rate of pay, and the accuracy of their work.<ref name=Delusion/><ref name=Lonely>{{cite news|author=Lonely Planet|title=Thomas Kohnstamm and our guidebooks|work=[Lonely Planet](/source/Lonely_Planet)|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/about/thomas_kohnstamm.cfm|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807184910/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/about/thomas_kohnstamm.cfm|archivedate=2008-08-07}}</ref> Other guidebook writers defended some of Kohnstamm's claims, contrasting with those of Pickard who had first claimed "no freebies — period", before then admitting freebies could be taken under some circumstances.

The book received positive reviews. [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) observed "were I his editor, I’d want his blood",<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/travel/04armchair.html|title=Armchair Traveler|newspaper=The New York Times|date=4 May 2008|last1=Woodward|first1=Richard B.}}</ref> but also admitted "As a reader...I could not get enough of the most depraved travel book of the year".  Another review praised Kohnstamm's "spirited prose".<ref>{{cite news
|author=Kirkus Reviews
|title=Starred Review - Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?
|date=February 1, 2008
|work=[Kirkus Reviews](/source/Kirkus_Reviews)
|url=http://www.kirkusreports.com/kirkusreviews/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003702280
}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.dotravelwritersgotohell.com Official Site]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohnstamm, Thomas}}
Category:American travel writers
Category:Bowdoin College alumni
Category:1975 births
Category:Living people

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thomas Kohnstamm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kohnstamm) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kohnstamm?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.