World-Weary Traveler

Travel porn stops being fun the minute you need to go somewhere. Then you want facts, not some boosterism bullshit written by journalists put to pasture or freebie-grabbing freelancers trying to carve out a second career after the wine bar failed. Enter Peter Greenberg. True, travel writing is his second career, but his first was developing shows for Paramount, and he brought the world MacGyver, so we love him forever. Now he's the travel editor for NBC’s Today and he’s released a string of books under the "Travel Detective" moniker, including Flight Crew Confidential, Hotel Secrets, and The Travel Detective Bible. This month he published a whopper, Don't Go There: The Travel Detective's Essential Guide to the Must-Miss Places of the World. He focuses on the black, rotting side of those places you hope to visit once in your life, talking about crime rates, pollution, disease, their disgusting hotels and terrible airlines. He gives a special mention to places that stink, like Hereford, Texas (cow shit); Cedar Rapids, Iowa (cereal plants); and Naples, Italy (trash).
Tue., Dec. 9, noon, 2008