Another story of sex,drugs, and rock and roll-this time of the Travel Industry. The untold stories of expats, underage sex, places that aren’t as dangerous as you think they are and more bits of odd sexual conduct in the backwaters of the world. Not surprisingly these are stories that the editors of major travel magazines and larger Sunday newspapers don’t want to fork over a lot of money to publish. Which our Hero thinks is a bad thing, after all, who wouldn’t want to know the best place to get a hummer in the third world?
On more serious notes, Chuck Thompson talks about how rude all travelers are, the risks of being rolled when four beautiful young women ask if they can tag along with you, and the possible end of travel as we know it when the oil runs out. He also talks about how all published travel writing in nothing but thinly disguised sales copy designed to get you to spend money on things that may not exist in the real world.
Among his many gripes, he talks about how he hates the Caribbean and the whole shafting of the people who actual have to live in the horrid paradise. He also hates Lonely Planet and doesn’t seem all that found of any travel guides. He especially hates all the hyperbole that passes as travel writing and the endless lovefest about even the most mundane of travel destinations. He talks about how writers get free travel for writing glowing reviews-and admits that he has written his share of BS travel stories. Hey, a man’s gotta eat.
Ultimately this is one man’s story, not the story of the entire travel industry, but just the tiny bit seen by our hero Chuck Thompson. This is also not just a book about travel, but is filled with the odds and ends of Chuck’s war stories that have any remote connection to travel. One that seemed especially pointless was his racing through Canada in a cheap car and running out of gas in the middle of nowhere-ripping stuff that.
Smile When Your Lying is a fun book filled with insane moments and a bit of advice on writing better travel articles and how to get better seats from lonely airline employees. For the most part it is just stories that are not ready for prime time, but are still pretty entertaining in a better you than me kind of way. One more man who seems to never wrong thing in the book and still ends up on top. Not a book for everyone, but I liked it.
