Travel writing about travel writing

Many people try to make a living out of travel writing. Few succeed. Some people, like Brian Thacker, writes heaps of books, and can probably survive of them. But seriously, his books should come with a warning. Thacker laughs at and looks down on other cultures, is constantly obsessed with "21-year olds wiggling their bottoms" and hot japanese girls (even though he has a patient wife and a baby daughter at home) and thinks he is the new Bill Bryson. He is not.

A book I on the other hand very much enjoyed is "Do travel writers go to hell?" by Thomas Kohnstamm, a young writer on a seemingly impossible mission for Lonely Planet. He cheats, lies and steals to get the guidebook done, constantly inebriated or hungover. But at least he is honest, fun and reflects on the complexity of being a tourist. The only question is how Lonely Planet could hire him again, after reading about him basically not doing his job at all.