Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens

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Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 · rating details · 3,009 ratings · 342 reviews

@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } "All first-rate criticism first defines what we are confronting," the late, great jazz critic Whitney Balliett once wrote. By that measure, the essays of Christopher Hitchens are in the...more @font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } "All first-rate criticism first defines what we are confronting," the late, great jazz critic Whitney Balliett once wrote. By that measure, the essays of Christopher Hitchens are in the first tier. For nearly four decades, Hitchens has been telling us, in pitch-perfect prose, what we confront when we grapple with first principles-the principles of reason and tolerance and skepticism that define and inform the foundations of our civilization-principles that, to endure, must be defended anew by every generation.

"A short list of the greatest living conversationalists in English," said The Economist, "would probably have to include Christopher Hitchens, Sir Patrick Leigh-Fermor, and Sir Tom Stoppard. Great brilliance, fantastic powers of recall, and quick wit are clearly valuable in sustaining conversation at these cosmic levels. Charm may be helpful, too." Hitchens-who staunchly declines all offers of knighthood-hereby invites you to take a seat at a democratic conversation, to be engaged, and to be reasoned with. His knowledge is formidable, an encyclopedic treasure, and yet one has the feeling, reading him, of hearing a person thinking out loud, following the inexorable logic of his thought, wherever it might lead, unafraid to expose fraudulence, denounce injustice, and excoriate hypocrisy. Legions of readers, admirers and detractors alike, have learned to read Hitchens with something approaching awe at his felicity of language, the oxygen in every sentence, the enviable wit and his readiness, even eagerness, to fight a foe or mount the ramparts.

Here, he supplies fresh perceptions of such figures as varied as Charles Dickens, Karl Marx, Rebecca West, George Orwell, J.G. Ballard, and Philip Larkin are matched in brilliance by his pungent discussions and intrepid observations, gathered from a lifetime of traveling and reporting from such destinations as Iran, China, and Pakistan.

Hitchens's directness, elegance, lightly carried erudition, critical and psychological insight, humor, and sympathy-applied as they are here to a dazzling variety of subjects-all set a standard for the essayist that has rarely been matched in our time. What emerges from this indispensable volume is an intellectual self-portrait of a writer with an exemplary steadiness of purpose and a love affair with the delights and seductions of the English language, a man anchored in a profound and humane vision of the human longing for reason and justice.

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Hardcover, 788 pages

Published September 1st 2011 by Twelve (first published 2011)

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May 25, 2012 Melanie added it · review of another edition

Let me begin my saying that I'm in love with Christopher Hitchens' brain, and have been so since reading 'Hitch-22' and 'God is not great.' So when I was in Bolen Books yesterday evening, perusing the new books that appear on the Man Booker Prize short list and the Giller Prize long list (plenty of tasty reading to come, there, as well), and I was arrested by Mr. Hitchens' stern demeanor. Needless to say, $40 disappeared from my bank account then and there for the work of this logophilic writer....more

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Oct 01, 2011 Cora Judd rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

‘Arguably’ is great but it is not of the ‘god is Not Great’ genre; it's a choice selection of Christopher Hitchens’ own essays, and of a vaster scope than the global-fallout-from-religion that the 'god' title focuses on. (Although, a reader hungering for a Hitchens-style treatment of atheism in essay form can be repeatedly sated by his introduction to 'the Portable Atheist'.) It is riveting in just the same way, however, and the temptation to adopt Hitchens' lucid opinions as my own is also sim...more

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Dec 26, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: criticism

This 800 page collection of essays and book reviews serves as a wonderful addendum to Hitch’s marvellous memoir, Hitch-22, where we learn so much about Hitch the man but very little about Hitch the provocateur and Hitch the critic.

There are a hundred essays in this tome; the most dazzling of which cover Hitch’s favourite writers. What’s interesting about his peculiar love of literature is that most of his favourite and most obsessively read authors have political and religious views quite oppos...more This 800 page collection of essays and book reviews serves as a wonderful addendum to Hitch’s marvellous memoir, Hitch-22, where we learn so much about Hitch the man but very little about Hitch the provocateur and Hitch the critic.

There are a hundred essays in this tome; the most dazzling of which cover Hitch’s favourite writers. What’s interesting about his peculiar love of literature is that most of his favourite and most obsessively read authors have political and religious views quite opposite to his own. And this fact seems to shed light on much of what remains obscure in Hitch’s memoir. You see that even though he eventually became an American citizen, culturally he remained adamantly British, snobbishly so. He also frequently references his past life as a leftist radical, proudly affirming the old line how idealism is meant for youth and that the only sane thing to do in later life is resign oneself to some form of realism. In this sense, Hitch’s life was quite unexceptional.

Something else that is eerily absent from his criticism is any sign that he’s read or taken seriously any continental philosophy from the last seventy years. For someone who prided himself on being intellectually current, his tastes seemed decidedly 19th Century. His liberalism (if that’s what it could be called) seemed to perpetually backpedal from life’s complicated social and political realities towards a hardnosed mixture of libertarian/conservatism. But this streak of conservatism is never overt; it simply steps in and asserts itself in a subtlety reactionary manner. And of course there is his notorious backing of the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which even after reading this collection (I should add that the most boring and ill-conceived articles deal with interventionism, Iraq, Iran, or anything related to American military matters) hasn’t ceased to strike me as poorly argued and confused.

These criticisms aside, Hitch is a superb writer. Every article is salted with intriguing, exotic, and highly intellectual prose. I am simply in awe of his impeccable writing style. Sometimes narrow and overly aggressive, he rarely is boring. And when he does try to provoke, he realizes to what extent he is provoking and that self-consciousness filters down into the subconscious of his readers and serves as an obliging impetus for friendly reading.

Another salient feature is Hitch’s enjoyment of reading and the relish of language in general that he communicates through his writing. As a confessed bibliophile, one gets the impression that he must have spent the better part of his life surrounded by stacks of interesting books; he was also a great conversationalist, devoting much time to hobnobbing with the world’s elite while globe-trotting and hunting up stories to write about. It is the combination of bookishness and worldliness that lend his articles and book reviews their authorial air of wisdom. And perhaps all along he was fashioning a picture of himself that would more readily grant him a place alongside his favourite writers, with their eloquence, wit, and insight compensating for their less desirable and surly attributes.

Hitch was one of a kind, and this collection, if anything, typifies his unique legacy.
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Oct 10, 2011 Mac rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book, arguably, is just right for the Kindle, in that it has very few typographical oddities (the footnotes can be counted on one hand), and weighs nearly as much as my computer. However, I carried it around for weeks, and feel that I've accomplished something.

All of these articles have appeared in print or online (and many, if not most, are still available there), so some tend to be more topical than others. Considering he writes a column for Slate once a week, it must have been hard to de...more This book, arguably, is just right for the Kindle, in that it has very few typographical oddities (the footnotes can be counted on one hand), and weighs nearly as much as my computer. However, I carried it around for weeks, and feel that I've accomplished something.

All of these articles have appeared in print or online (and many, if not most, are still available there), so some tend to be more topical than others. Considering he writes a column for Slate once a week, it must have been hard to decide which handful of page-and-a-half essays should end up in the book, and presumably they chose the least time-stamped of the bunch, but even so there are issues that seemed relevant in 2003 that haven't quite stuck in one's memory the way he might have thought they would. Then again, a weekly column isn't written for posterity, and probably shouldn't be treated as such.

Anyway, Mr. Hitchens is at his best when he's writing about literature and language and history, and is also a capable foreign correspondent, but some of the essays here are so much of their time that one wonders why they were included in an already sizable volume. It's interesting, in reading them all together, to see the frequently repeated references - Bertie Wooster comes up in nearly every piece, as does the fiction of Evelyn Waugh. A quite large portion of the book is dedicated to English writers of the mid-twentieth century, a group that I've certainly neglected in my own reading, and I wasn't quite sure that I was getting a lot out of essays on Edward Upward and Anthony Powell (though it was interesting to see just how much of the English literati in the '30s were dabbling with the blackshirt movement).

It would be hard to read anything by Mr. Hitchens in the past decade without a reference to the Iraq war, and as such this volume contains hundreds of allusions to the obviousness of intervention there, even when it doesn't seem especially natural to make such an analogy. In some ways, it seems as though he doth protest too much - but then, none of the essays in the volume is a direct defense of the invasion, either: while many of the pieces are about Iraq, we do not have any contemporary writing that argued explicitly for the US and UK to invade. To be fair, a lot of that was on television, but in some ways this book seems to ignore his virulence on the topic, while in others - mostly through tossed-off asides in essays about unrelated topics - it becomes abundantly clear that he refuses to back down from his admittedly complicated position on the matter.

Like anything I read by Mr. Hitchens, I agree with about 66% of it, and that seems like plenty. What I can appreciate is that, no matter what he's saying, he's always saying it beautifully, with a swagger and a sip of Scotch. (less)

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Jan 03, 2012 Claudia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-about-books, favorites

Reading this book was like having a conversation with an insanely well-read, well-traveled, and well-spoken friend. Some of the essays I'd already read when they were first published, but many were new to me.

There were some definite serendipities, such as a run of essays on authors I too like very much (Waugh, Greene, Powell, Wodehouse, Nabokov), and some discussions that made me want to rush out and look again at others (I've only started the Flashman series, and he kept bringing it up). The po...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Bettie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, essays, published-2011, autumn-2011, radio-4

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 23, 2013 Tim Bensley added it · review of another edition

Review of each essay available on http://tslice59.blogspot.com/

Christopher Hitchens, Arguably

Adding a short synopsis/review after I finish each section.

“Gods of Our Fathers”

Review of Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers, by Brooke Adams. Defining quote, ”The connection between religious skepticism and political liberty may not be as absolute…, but there is no doubt that some such connection existing very vividly in the minds of those ‘men of the Enlightenment’ who adorned Philadelphia...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Stela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: culture-and-civilization, reviews

Funny how in a book you didn't particularly enjoy reading (I'll explain) you find a super quote, so perfect that you become obsessed with for days in a row. Check it out: "A point, like a joke, is a terrible thing to miss."
I was so enthusiastic with this point of view discovered in the first pages of this enormous book that I kept reading for a while before acknowledging that it's pointless to continue in a systematic manner and I began browsing and skipping.
The journalist's work is condemned t...more Funny how in a book you didn't particularly enjoy reading (I'll explain) you find a super quote, so perfect that you become obsessed with for days in a row. Check it out: "A point, like a joke, is a terrible thing to miss."
I was so enthusiastic with this point of view discovered in the first pages of this enormous book that I kept reading for a while before acknowledging that it's pointless to continue in a systematic manner and I began browsing and skipping.
The journalist's work is condemned to transiency par excellence. He keeps trying to capture the moment and he does, but not always yesterday news are relevant tomorrow. That's why even when his subjects are serious and important, they are not of great significance to me (I never read journals and I don't keep in touch with world events on a regular basis) so my lack of interest is not the author's fault at all, because his book is well written and foreign policy articles are brilliant (man, he travelled!), but policy - foreign or not - has no appeal for me.
On the other hand, his literature essays lack sometimes in depth and are slightly boring, and the social analyzes are a little tendentious, even if intelligent (so tricking) ones
Of course, as usual, I retained some information (sometimes useful, sometimes not): that the expression "blow job" comes from "below job" (did I have to know that? I don't think so, but it's funny, nonetheless); that "cottage" is the name that homosexuals gave to tearooms (another British gay slang term referring to lavatory); that death penalty for minors still exists in some states of USA; that there was a 7-year legal struggle involving prolonged life support (Terri Schiavo case), etc.
The most interesting part of the enormous book was "Offshore Accounts", from which "Tunisia: At the Desert's Edge" is an amazing article about an afro-Arab state, very democratic and modern.
Overall, you cannot help admiring a great journalist and a man who was never afraid to express his opinions - and a suggestive example is the scene in Beirut, where seeing a poster with a swastika he begins to write some insults on it and he is beaten by a Syrian fanatic (too long to explain, just read the article "The Swastika and the Cedar", in the same section of the book).
In this (but not the only) context, the saying quoted at the beginning of my review acquires new depths: "A point, like a joke, is a terrible thing to miss."
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Feb 01, 2012 Gregory rated it 4 of 5 stars

A line appearing somewhere near the midpoint of this collection of essays is revealing: “Stay with me. I've been doing the hard thinking for you.” Christopher Hitchens does a lot of hard thinking apparently; keep up if you can. This may suggest that considerable ego is involved, and given the author's reputation you can be sure that it is, but on display too is considerable erudition.

The book is composed of six sections roughly dividing the essays on theme. Most important for an understanding o

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The book is composed of six sections roughly dividing the essays on theme. Most important for an understanding of the sources of the Hitchens worldview is the section titled Eclectic Affinities, a complete reading of which delineates Mr. Hitchens' antecedents and mentors. We can find here the roots of the author's prominent and resolute crusade against doctrinal and totalitarian cowing. We are introduced to or reacquainted with some of the most cogent and relevant literature of the last century. Karl Marx, Evelyn Waugh, P.G. Wodehouse, Graham Greene are included with a host of lesser known but equally intriguing and edifying writers. And of course there is Orwell.

For members of my generation (boomer) and later, the most calamitous events of that era are known only through history. It is history that we forget at our peril. Arguably, the most celebrated chronicler and critic of that tragic age is George Orwell. His most famous titles, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four warn of the menace of totalitarianism. Orwellian is a shortcut term with which to express horror at absolutist ideology. Orwell's own extensive output of essays is a model for the subject of this review. Hitchens uses the words, the imagery, the legend of his famous predecessor to develop many of his own ideas and critiques. Orwell is referenced in 25 of the essays and has the longest index entry of any writer mentioned. (He is also the subject of another Hitchens title.) As this book's overarching themes unfold it becomes evident that George Orwell begat Christopher Hitchens.

The point about forgetting is not that episodes of oppression and brutality mustn't be allowed to repeat but that they happen still. In large swaths of the Middle East and South Asia, in North Korea, in parts of Africa, (to name only the most obvious) and elsewhere despotism persists even now. Patronizing acquiescence, political expedience, lack of vigilance, the turned back; this attitude the world cannot afford. The U.S. has been at times complicit with villains, at times neutral, at times a highly committed foe of oppression. American exceptionalism is a phrase bandied about by right wing isolationists or stuffed shirt apologists or most often by influence hawking politicians. The gist is that the United States has a special destiny that is somehow impossible to duplicate elsewhere, that is unavailable to the citizens of other lands because of a certain lack of aspiration or right ideology. In the essay The Case for Humanitarian Intervention Hitchens defines what may be a truer measure of American exceptionalism:

“Now that all other examples of political revolution have become obsolete or have been discredited, the issue is whether the United States is indeed a different sort of country or nation, one that has a creed or an ethic that imposes special duties on it. … The original principles of the [United Nations] had to do almost entirely with war and peace, law and … finance. But all its new members also found themselves invited to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights … and there is no question that U.S. influence lay behind this suggestion. By means of this and a number of other incremental steps, the United States has found itself becoming inexorably committed to upholding a certain standard of what its critics would call idealism.”

Anyone taking the time to read—and making the effort to understand—the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution should not question the role of idealism in the American experiment. It is this idealism that may be the last best hope for humanity (at home and abroad) and which the U.S. has an obligation to espouse. Upholding that view is the raison d'etre for much of Christopher Hitchens' work.

Lest I give the impression that the book is all depression inducing or eye glazing polemic Hitchens does have his lighter side. The citation with which I began this review is from the essay As American as Apple Pie, a chronicle of the American ascendancy of fellatio. And another, Why Women Aren't Funny, well, you get the idea. His irreverent and somewhat naughty sense of humor sits perfectly within the Hitchens oeuvre. This collection covers a broad range of topics reflecting the author's encyclopedic interests.

Mason Crumpacker is an eight-year-old girl who braved the microphone recently at a Hitchens event in Houston to ask the author what books she should read. Mr. Hitchens took time after his talk to meet personally with Mason and help her put together a reading list. He understands, as did Thomas Jefferson, of whom Hitchens is a student, that “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Nearly every essay in this book offers at least one title with which the topic at hand may be explored further. The benefit of this for the reader is an introduction to a canon of historical, political, and philosophical ideas that explain our history and define our civilization, a reading list for our time.

Yes, Christopher Hitchens does a lot of hard thinking and these essays invite his readers to do some hard thinking of our own.

Note: As I was writing this review I learned that Christopher Hitchens had lost his fight with cancer. Of all his famous battles this was one that could not be won with argument and chutzpah. In a world of vacuous punditry and unchecked credulity his was a voice of unequivocal reason and studied skepticism. He will be missed.

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Aug 01, 2012 Xox rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

If you bought the hardcover or the thick paperback, there is no reason to read it in one go. Taking it in small dosage might help you to enjoy this more.

For details, see my week by week summary.

Overview on the first half of the book.

Christopher Hitchens read a lot of books. Some of the writers I haven't even read a single work. He knew his subject well, and don't mind pissing on the greats as long as he think he got a valid point to illustrate to his readers. That's what I like about him. He cou...more

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May 12, 2013 Leon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From one of the most admired public intellectuals of our time, and a multi-award winning and #1 bestselling author, comes a collection of his most important and controversial essays on the theme of culture and politics and how the two relate.

Review

A New York Times Book Review Best Book
A Globe and Mail Best Book

“Bright, witty… one of the most lucid and humane voices of our age.”
—The Globe and Mail

Praise for Christopher Hitchens:
"Whether he's dodging bullets in Sarajevo, dissing Bill Clinto

...more

Review

A New York Times Book Review Best Book
A Globe and Mail Best Book

“Bright, witty… one of the most lucid and humane voices of our age.”
—The Globe and Mail

Praise for Christopher Hitchens:
"Whether he's dodging bullets in Sarajevo, dissing Bill Clinton (with whom he says he shared a girlfriend at Oxford), or explaining his switch from leftist to Iraq war supporter, this foreign correspondent, pundit, and bon vivant makes for an enlightening companion."
— Kyle Smith, People Magazine

"A conversation with Hitchens mimics a trip through Wikipedia. Every thought is hyperlinked, with one subject slaloming into the next in ways baffling and enlightening, confounding and profound."
— Washington Post

"A great polemicist compellingly, effectively, sometimes bullyingly, attacks all gods and religions."*
—The Globe and Mail

"Electric and electrifying . . . high-spirited. . . . [Hitchens] has a mind like a Swiss Army knife, ready to carve up or unbolt an opponent's arguments with a flick of the wrist. . . . The business and pleasure sides of Mr. Hitchens's personality can make him seem, whether you agree with him or not, among the most purely alive people on the planet."
—New York Times

"Few writers can match his cerebral pyrotechnics. Fewer still can emulate his punch as an intellectual character assassin. It is hard not to admire the sheer virtuosity of his prose, yet it is rare to mistake it for wisdom or good judgment. With Hitchens one simply goes along for the ride. The destination hardly matters."
—Financial Times

"[Hitchens] is effortlessly witty and entertaining as well as utterly rational. . . . He offers the open-minded plenty to think about."
—Booklist (starred review)
*

About the Author

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, Slate, and The Atlantic, authored numerous books, including works on Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and George Orwell. He was also the author of the international bestsellers god Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and Hitch-22: A Memoir. He died in December 2011.

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Feb 20, 2013 Jesse Broussard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: appalling, excellent, reference, world-class, non-fiction, hilarious

The late Christopher Hitchens shared one tremendous skill with his less notorious brother: the boys can write. And they aren't cowards. They remind me—I apologize in advance—they remind me of the scene in Miss Congeniality when fifty contestants for Miss Universe or whatever say they want world peace and then Sandra Bullock wants harsher punishments for parole violators. I get sick of people bowing to the pressure of being PC and (all hail) Tolerant. But neither of the Hitchens brothers seem ver...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Madeline rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

GAH! I can't look away from this cover that Goodreads provided. My copy of Arguably is plain, blinding yellow, which sometimes gives me a headache but at least it doesn't stare into my soul. I feel sorry for anyone who actually owns a copy with this particular cover of doom on it.

Before his death, I had a vague awareness of Christopher Hitchens, having read some of his contributions to Vanity Fair, but he never struck me as someone I should be paying close attention to until after he had died a...more GAH! I can't look away from this cover that Goodreads provided. My copy of Arguably is plain, blinding yellow, which sometimes gives me a headache but at least it doesn't stare into my soul. I feel sorry for anyone who actually owns a copy with this particular cover of doom on it.

Before his death, I had a vague awareness of Christopher Hitchens, having read some of his contributions to Vanity Fair, but he never struck me as someone I should be paying close attention to until after he had died and I was reading some of his most memorable quotes online. Click the link and read #11. It changed my entire perception of Hitchens and made me respect him so much more - I was raised Catholic, and you simply do not criticize Mother friggin' Teresa. It just does not compute for us. But the thing is, he was absolutely right. After I read that, I decided that I had to read more of Hitchens' stuff.

The essays in this group are divided into sections: first are a series of book reviews (which are less about the books in question and more critical essays on the various dead British men who are the subjects); then a bunch of straightforward worshipful essays on mostly dead British male authors; a bit entitled "Amusements, Annoyances, and Disappointments" which, had I been in charge of this collection, would have been titled "Hitchens Bitchin'" (tip your waitresses, you've been great); foreign policy essays dealing mostly with the Middle East, "Legacies of Totalitarianism"; and finally a series of brief little essays on a wide range of subjects, including a history of the King James Bible, a discussion of the evolution of the word "like", and the joys of the phrase "fuck off."

They're not all awesome. I freely admit that I skipped the essays on Edmund Burke, Stephen Spender, and Edward Said because I don't know who those guys are/don't know enough about them to make the essays compelling. Hitchens can be unbelievably crotchety, particularly in a piece where he whines about how much he hates it when a waiter interrupts dinner (ie, interrupts Hitchens speaking) to pour wine for everyone at the table. Also he has a remarkable tone-deaf essay in which he laments that he isn't allowed to say the n-word in any context without everyone getting mad at him. And of course, his infamous "Why Women Aren't Funny" essay is here, and it's so mired in smugness and antiquated gender stereotypes that it's not even worth reading, much less taking seriously (I'll save you the time and tell you that Hitchens's argument boils down to, "women can't be funny because they're too preoccupied with having babies." No, really.) In fact, Hitchens is pretty damn insufferable whenever he has to talk about women, and he is especially irritating when he's discussing Middle Eastern women. He has a terrible essay on why it's a good idea for France to ban burquas (I personally prefer Jon Stewart's take on the issue, which is that forbidding women to dress a certain way is just as bad as forcing them to do so), and seems to be personally offended by the idea of any woman wearing a burqua, hijab, or even a headscarf. In fact, whenever a Middle Eastern woman is mentioned in the book, even if she's just been seen from a distance, Hitchens has to make sure to let us know if she's wearing a headscarf. This is weird, because although he frequently seeks out other experts to weigh in on whatever topic he's writing about (he even emailed Nora Ephron and Fran Lebowitz for their opinions on his "hurr, women can't tell jokes" bullshit, because apparently they are the funniest women Christopher Hitchens knows, which makes me sad for a lot of reasons), he never mentions asking a Muslim woman about why she does or doesn't wear a headscarf. The idea that a woman would choose to wear a headscarf, rather than being forced to, doesn't seem to have occurred to Hitchens.

But everything else he writes about the Middle East is very, very good, and possibly the best essays in the entire collection are when he's discussing his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan - there's a particularly stirring essay where Hitchens willingly allows himself to be waterboarded and reports on the experience. And despite not always agreeing with it, I was in constant awe of Hitchen's voice and its intelligent, no-bullshit tone. One thing that at least can be said for Christopher Hitchens: he does not condescend to his readers. In fact, he expects you to be as smart as he is, and understand all of his references and jokes, and I'll admit that I couldn't always keep up. Also admirable is his absolute refusal to cave to any sentimentality - he calls the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings an "exhausting national sob fest."

Not that he's heartless. One of the most moving essays is about the uses of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, and what Hitchens saw when he visited victims who were permanently disfigured because of the chemical. I'll give the last word to Hitchens and let him describe the experience himself, because there's really no better way to demonstrate what a talented, brilliant, and secretly compassionate man he was:

"At a school full of children who made sign language to one another or who couldn't sit still (or who couldn't move much at all), or who couldn't see or couldn't hear...I was then asked if I would like to say a few words, through an interpreter, to the assembly. I quite like a captive audience, but I didn't trust myself to say a fucking thing. Several of the children in the front row were so wizened and shrunken that they looked as if they could be my seniors. I swear to you that Jim Natchway has taken photographs, as one of his few rivals, Philip Jones Griffiths, also took photographs, that simply cannot be printed in this magazine, because they would poison your sleep, as they have poisoned mine."(less)

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Nov 03, 2012 Ben Dutton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Christopher Hitchens’ untimely death in 2011 robbed the world of a great writer, debater and thinker. Unafraid of tackling even the most difficult of political subjects, he would take to task national newspapers, television stations and international governments. Always speaking his mind, his breadth and depth of knowledge was unrivalled, and the world is a poorer place with his passing.

I know the above stated facts through one source only: reading this collection of just some of his essays, art...more Christopher Hitchens’ untimely death in 2011 robbed the world of a great writer, debater and thinker. Unafraid of tackling even the most difficult of political subjects, he would take to task national newspapers, television stations and international governments. Always speaking his mind, his breadth and depth of knowledge was unrivalled, and the world is a poorer place with his passing.

I know the above stated facts through one source only: reading this collection of just some of his essays, articles, reviews and thoughts, written in the last ten years of his life. The range is impressive – he discusses English literature of the 1930s, the geo-political situation in the Middle East, religion, American politics, English politics, the etymology of words and so much more. Arguably, his fifth collection, is not a book to be read quickly (it is 750 pages, so there is little chance of anybody getting through the whole thing in one sitting anyway), but to read slowly, to absorb the information he is imparting, and to consider his opinion (and perhaps your own on the same subject – and whatever you think, Hitch’s will always be the correct one). I read a couple of pieces a day for about a month, and this seemed the best way to approach it. Though not gathered chronologically, you nevertheless see the evolution of ideas in his thinking, or the way in which new found sources help shift his perspective or inform his thinking. One thing this collection does is show that Hitch never stopped reading, never stopped thinking, and never stopped confronting.

It is perhaps difficult to pick out the best essay in this collection – and though some are slight (especially some of the later pieces), sometimes nothing more than a thought and a joke in fact – when he is at his roaring best, this volume soars. As a fiction writer I enjoyed his deconstructions other works of literature (gathered in the section entitled ‘Eclectic Affinities’, and could easily have read a book as long as this on just these subjects), but the best works are spread across two sections, ‘Offshore Accounts’ and ‘Legacies of Totalitarianism’, where he confronts political injustices and asks questions few want to ask, think to ask or are willing to ask. His indignation at the intolerance of religion, at the senseless murder by governments of its citizens, at the subjugation of people across the world, it makes you want to roar with him. Such things we hear rarely of in the press, but people need to speak these thoughts, alert the world to these problems, and face injustice and inhumanity whenever and wherever we see it, even when it is coming from those who are supposedly there to protect us. All of this makes Hitchens’ book sound like a polemic – it is not. It is rather the thoughts of an intelligent man facing up to the problems of the world and speaking when others might wish to remain silent. For this, he should be applauded.

His name was one I kept hearing – that is why I picked up this collection – and the reading of it has made me keen to track down his other works and read them all. I think of no greater compliment to pay to his memory than this. Arguably is a wonderful collection. Do yourself a favour, and read it as well. But be warned, when you’ve finished, you’ll have a secondary reading list the length of your arm. So much he references, or reviews positively, I want to read now too. But such things are to be expected, and discovering new things is a secondary delight to be gleaned from reading Christopher Hitchens at his best. And this is very close to – if not – Hitch at his very best.(less)

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Oct 31, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hitchens was fantastic writer. His style was easily accessible and his subject matter was interesting as was his insights into the topics he wrote about. Arguably is no different. A collection of Hitchens' reviews and essays as was printed in Slate and Vanity Fair primarily, Arguably offers the reader insights into some lesser known writings from the turn of and the early 20th century ranging from historical to commentary on social and political leanings of the time. While the writers that he re...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Lynetta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

"Dickens, who left us the grisly inheritance of Christmas," had a miserable childhood but then detested persons of poverty. Hitchens says he was at his best evoking childhood misery. These are but a mild sample of Hitchens comments. He lays into sacred persons such as John F. Kennedy and more.

Kurt Vonnegut commented humans have minds like gearteeth and all of us are missing some. Alas, there are great voids in my own gray matter! Somehow I didn't take a formal world history class and only have...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, current-affairs

Christopher Hitchens had a mind which is sorely missed. Whether you agreed with what he was saying, or were on the other side of the issue, one had to respect and respond to what Hitchens had to say on the subject. “Arguably” is a collection of his essays (107 in all) put into six sections of the book, and which cover a wide variety of subjects. There are certainly a few here which are not going to be considered controversial, but the vast majority are Hitchens as he usually was, strongly opinio...more Christopher Hitchens had a mind which is sorely missed. Whether you agreed with what he was saying, or were on the other side of the issue, one had to respect and respond to what Hitchens had to say on the subject. “Arguably” is a collection of his essays (107 in all) put into six sections of the book, and which cover a wide variety of subjects. There are certainly a few here which are not going to be considered controversial, but the vast majority are Hitchens as he usually was, strongly opinionated on controversial subjects, and always with a significant stack of facts to back his positions; positions which he was not afraid to voice in the bluntest terms. In other words, this is Hitchens at his best (when you agree with him), and at his most difficult (when you don’t).

This collection was published originally in September of 2011, with Hitchens writing a brief introduction in late June as he was suffering from oesophageal cancer from which he would pass away six months later at the all too young age of 62. The essays had been published over the course of years in a variety of publications. The subjects dealt with cover a wide range, from religion and politics, to why women aren’t funny, and everything in between. The material ranges from columns, to book reviews, to book introductions.

Hitchens was one of the few members of the media who had actually visited the “axis of evil”, along with many other places, and this most certainly contributed to his insights on many subjects. Hitchens was not the least bit tentative to express his opinion, but unlike other talking-heads, Hitchens was able to do it and still be credible on a subject. Though certainly liberal on a majority of subjects, Hitchens had no problem blasting Kissinger, then turning around and backing President George W. Bush in the “War on Terror”, only to then proceed to ignore the administration’s position on water-boarding and calling it what he considered it, “torture”. The result is that the reader can trust that the opinion they are reading is sincere, and not simply a position taken to support an ideological ally.

I ended my first paragraph by saying that Hitchens was at his best when you agree with him, but the fact is that if you are open to views different than yours, then often Hitchens is at his best when you disagree with him. He certainly had the ability to infuriate and madden listeners and readers, but he also had the ability to make people understand a different point of view, even when he fails to convince them that he is correct. Christopher Hitchens is a voice which is missed.
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Aug 21, 2012 Antonomasia marked it as sampled · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, journalism, non-fiction-misc

From deadly serious discussion of political martyrdom and suicide bombers ... to blowjobs: I honestly cannot think of another single non-fiction book I've encountered in all my days that contains such a range of sacred and profane, triviality and gravity as one human mind often does.

The full-scale electronic edition is almost as infuriating as Hitchens' views on Iraq; it's 750 pages of unindexed text, and the table of contents is impossible to scroll. (Or that might just be my [Kindle] Touch.)...more

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May 10, 2012 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Know it alls.

Well, it’s a big book that looks nice on your coffee table and if nothing else it’s a conversation starter. But that’s the best part of the book. Hitchens’s easy style makes you feel like you are in the room with him. Reading his essays, especially his attack on Gore Vidal, makes you wish that he was in the room with you.

Though, I can’t imagine getting a word in edgewise because Hitchens writes like a man who always thought he was the smartest man in the room. And for the most part, I’ll bet he...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Rick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: essays

Hitchens, famously an atheist, famously a leftist accused of being reactionary, famously a man who writes, drank, and smoked nearly non-stop, famously a man now living on borrowed time with an incurable cancer stalking his days, is nobody’s fool, except, like the rest of us, perhaps his own. This elephantine book, some 750 pages, the size of a Collected Essays, is just his most recent output. Some essays were written and first published at the very end of the 90s but the vast majority of essays...more Hitchens, famously an atheist, famously a leftist accused of being reactionary, famously a man who writes, drank, and smoked nearly non-stop, famously a man now living on borrowed time with an incurable cancer stalking his days, is nobody’s fool, except, like the rest of us, perhaps his own. This elephantine book, some 750 pages, the size of a Collected Essays, is just his most recent output. Some essays were written and first published at the very end of the 90s but the vast majority of essays are from the aughts. Frankly, I was a little stunned to discover after purchase that it wasn’t a career spanning anthology and anticipated a lot of chaff in with the wheat but was delighted to find that Hitchens has a rare capacity to write a lot about a wide range of things with a keen eye and keener wit.

Most of the essays originated in Vanity Fair, the Atlantic, or Slate. Some from miscellaneous newspapers or books reviews. Another handful are introductions to books by others. The essays in Arguably cover literature, domestic politics, history, human rights, religion, international affairs, the necessary integrity of words, and social mores, including but not limited to oral sex. There are two essays back to back on Graham Greene that repeat themselves and the book would have been better served by choosing one; but overall this collection read very well, smoothly entertaining and frequently provocative in the best sense of that word. Hitchens has a reputation as a contrarian because his views can catch one off guard (he thought and still thinks that the Iraq War was a necessary, even over due, war; he thinks women in the aggregate are less funny than men in the aggregate). But in point of fact Hitchens is a stickler for two things: principles (like those that imperfectly undergird western democracy, secular humanism, and liberal political thought) and the right to express one’s thoughts. He prefers unmasked stupidity to masked stupidity. He prefers an open debate to anyone’s list of taboo thoughts or sacred cows. And if you are debating him with a set of arguments resting on unchallenged assumptions, beware.

Hitchens is smart, precise, knowledgeable, logical, consistent, and surgical in his assaults on the arguments of others. Unlike Gore Vidal who long ago turned his wit and raptor’s sense of an opponent’s vulnerability into sound bite schtick (so much so that now listening to him on any topic is like listening to a talking doll with 12 pre-programmed sarcasms and a string to pull), Hitchens, on the other hand, is engaged in any conversation in which he is taking part. He hears what others are saying, gives credit where it’s due, and skewers statements that are false, naïve, hypocritical, self-serving, cowardly, bullying, or merely poorly reasoned. His prose is always readable, frequently funny, and always nimble and concise. He’s convinced me to read P.G. Wodehouse, Anthony Powell, Victor Serve, and Rebecca West but not George MacDonald Fraser. He unsettled a few of my assumptions and required me to think differently about the Iraq War, the meaning of tolerance and intolerance, and Bill Clinton. He provides insightful arguments about the criminality of torture (though whether he was required to submit to waterboarding to make his points is another question), the abuse of American history on which the Far Right’s views depend, and the importance of W.H.Auden’s poem “September 1, 1939,” a favorite poem of mine as well.

Like the best of essayists he is a very good companion, whether you are arguing with him or enjoying the benefit of his arguments for a shared view, he makes you smarter. This last point is not a small one: he makes you smarter not because he persuades you to his views, which he does sometimes, but because he compels you to think about your views. What could be better?(less)

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Nov 26, 2011 Socraticgadfly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Five stars for the content, four to four-plus for what is revealed about Hitchens.

Many of the essays in here are great. On matters religious, Hitchens postulates that Ben Franklin was an atheist, not a deist, that Lincoln was even more skeptical about organized religion than has been portrayed in the past and other things.

Much of this comes from reviews of books from various magazines. I read most of these, though skipping a few about modern British authors.

His take on Gore Vidal is great; Vidal...more Five stars for the content, four to four-plus for what is revealed about Hitchens.

Many of the essays in here are great. On matters religious, Hitchens postulates that Ben Franklin was an atheist, not a deist, that Lincoln was even more skeptical about organized religion than has been portrayed in the past and other things.

Much of this comes from reviews of books from various magazines. I read most of these, though skipping a few about modern British authors.

His take on Gore Vidal is great; Vidal was, indeed, "all that" until 9/11, when he went in the "truther" bin, among other things.

That said, some of his essays are clunkers, and others reflect that Hitch refuses to shine the light of logic on his own positions at times.

Take his continued "bleeding heart" stance on behalf of the Kurds, and using this to justify Bush's invasion of Iraq. Well, in all of his American reading, I'm sure he's heard the old phrase, "You dance with them what brung you." How he can excoriate Bush in other posts (yet not understand how this could, even without other evidence, fuel some "Truthers") yet defend not just an invasion of Iraq in the abstract but by George W. Bush is one of those places where logic and self-awareness fail him. (As does Realpolitik; he does mention that Kurds are a higher percentage of the population in Turkey than in either Iraq or Iran, but won't admit that the PKK is a terrorist group, nor will he wrestle with what a Greater Kurdistan might cause in the larger Middle East.)

And, he can erect the occasional straw man. Like Sam Harris, he now seems to believe that all left liberals are ethical relativists who won't "stand up to Islam." He raises this canard in his essay on Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Infidel," claiming first that, and second that many said left-liberals have gone on to call her a fundamentalist.

No, Hitch, we've taken her to task for going to bed with the same neocons you have. If there's been more essays of this nature in the book, it would have gotten downgraded a star. Or more.(less)

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Jan 25, 2013 Jerry Delaney rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Yes, there are positions taken that will piss you off, no matter who you are or what your beliefs may be. But we are so seldom challenged these days because it is so easy to read, watch, listen to and Facebook friend only those who have the same opinions we do. Hitchens is bound to have some opinions you don't like, whether it's his strong support for the invasion of Iraq or his distaste for organized religion. Plus you know that he's smarter than you are, which is always annoying.
But what took...more

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May 15, 2012 John rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read the first quarter of this book, and, despite finding it very well written, I don't think so many people would have bought it had it been written by someone other than Hitchens. Hitchens' work has spawned a particularly rabid pedigree of fans who will happily devour anything he offers, regardless of topic. I, not being a fan, was disappointed to find that the first half of this tome consisted mostly of one book review after another, and it often being unclear even as to what book Hitchens...more

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Dec 15, 2012 kate added it · review of another edition

I am currently in the dumbest environment I have ever been in my entire life. Like, worse than getting caught in the lunchroom with the dumbest most annoying people at work while they analyze the bush administration's evidence of hussein's nuclear weapons program. (remember, 70% of americans still buy that argument. I just like to continually point that out to everyone who thinks things are okay. They, like, totally aren't really).

So...Hitchens' acerbic and relentless commitment to the cerebral...more I am currently in the dumbest environment I have ever been in my entire life. Like, worse than getting caught in the lunchroom with the dumbest most annoying people at work while they analyze the bush administration's evidence of hussein's nuclear weapons program. (remember, 70% of americans still buy that argument. I just like to continually point that out to everyone who thinks things are okay. They, like, totally aren't really).

So...Hitchens' acerbic and relentless commitment to the cerebral, educated, scientific and intellectual is a nice respite from undiluted and relentless moronity. This is a collection of essays, reviews and passions that Hitchens wrote from the late 90s to his death from cancer in 2011. Having been a fairly regular reader, I actually missed the curmudgeon railing against injustice, deflating the fatuous and improving my vocabulary.

Hitchens could be counted on to stand his ground regardless of the ever changing winds of public opinion. Some people loathed that, I admired his willingness to stand outside the safe shelter of the maddening crowd. Many pundits live safely buffered by everyone playing it so safely no one ever leads.

A woman saw me reading this book and said, 'oh, Hitchens, he is so contentious. I don't like the subject matter he writes about." Which I found curious. I assume he gained notoriety around Iraq or bashing god, Prince Charles or Mother Theresa. He wrote about just about everything.

This collection reflects the many other things he wrote about. Writers, history, the Middle East, the history of fellatio - the man was a font of knowledge uncommon to North America. As knowledge of history becomes reduced to Doris Kearns Goodwin (like, just her) and stupidity speeds up and dominates - the world will miss writers with the temerity to face the mindless criticism of the masses. Sometimes those writers are saying something of worth.

This would be an excellent gift for yourself or someone else, it is very readable and you can pick it up and put it down between articles. Beware the glowering English guy on the cover and don't try to take away his drink.

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Apr 10, 2012 Glenn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The current series of books I've been reading started with a Christmas gift from 2010, Clive James' autobiography, 'The Blaze of Obscurity'. This started me down the track of biographies and autobiographies, and reminded me of my interest in the eighteenth century that was re-ignited by recent courses during the master's of public health, specifically a course entitled 'Human Rights and Global Justice'.

Thus, my next book was 'Samuel Johnson: A Life', by David Nokes, closely followed by 'Benjami...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, essays

In an almost too vast array of topics here, Hitchens uses his remarkable erudition and integrity to clearly analyze the world's literary wonders and political dilemmas. He never veers from his unforgiving stances on religion and American hegemony, and one must admire his pride in his adopted country that never gets in the way of him criticizing its most sacred institutions, both political and literary.

Notes:

Hitchens's enthusiasm for American history and American ideas is stunning and heartening...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Sean Carman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An uneven collection of Hitchens' magazine essays and other pieces. Some of them, like the introduction to Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, represent Hitchens at his best. But "Why Women Aren't Funny" is probably one of the worst essays ever written.

Someone should bring Hitchens' two collections of essays for his Minority Report column in The Nation back into print. Right now they are only available from used book sellers for outrageous prices. I guess they are collector's items. If y...more

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Mar 05, 2012 Nick Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone with a brain and sense of humour

Among the reasons Hitchens has developed a serious following by readers and writers (and a wide circle of great ones including William Styron and Salman Rushdie as personal friends) alike are his tenacity and eloquent arguments, and thus the title is fitting. I would never like to argue against him, and I cannot, for the prolific and eminent literary buff who was never afraid of controversial topics has died. I did not have an affinity for every subject which is represented in this collection of...more

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Feb 14, 2012 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, unexpectedly-terrific

OK, so if (like me) you start this collection with the notion that there was something iffy about this Hitchens bloke -- I mean how can one dude's stuff be everywhere you look, Vanity Fair, Esquire, The Atlantic, all over the damned internet -- and he had that whole British obnoxiousness down to a T, and if you're predisposed to find a reason to dislike him, let me point you to the one demonstrably brain-dead essay of the hundred or so in this collection. It's on page 389, it's called "Why Women...more OK, so if (like me) you start this collection with the notion that there was something iffy about this Hitchens bloke -- I mean how can one dude's stuff be everywhere you look, Vanity Fair, Esquire, The Atlantic, all over the damned internet -- and he had that whole British obnoxiousness down to a T, and if you're predisposed to find a reason to dislike him, let me point you to the one demonstrably brain-dead essay of the hundred or so in this collection. It's on page 389, it's called "Why Women Aren't Funny", it's as stupid as it sounds, and it makes Hitchens seem like a complete tool. Upon reading it, you may be tempted to engage in a little confirmation bias, remembering a certain perceived shrillness in his contribution to the whole God debate thing. And wasn't he the guy who trashed Mother Theresa?

Slow down there. Time for a reality check. A few salient facts:

1) Mother Theresa undoubtedly had it coming (just ask Sinead O' Connor).

2) That dumb "Why Women Aren't Funny" is the ONLY DUD ESSAY IN THIS BOOK. Which means that Hitchens is batting over 99% here. Think about that for a while. When was the last time you came across a nonfiction collection with those kinds of numbers?

3) Yes, he can be scathing. But, to an impressive degree, it's only when provoked.

4) A defining feature of these essays, particularly those dealing with other authors, is their generosity of spirit. Frankly, this surprised me a good deal, because it didn't square with my preconceived notion of Hitchens as a kind of super-erudite arrogant asshole. He is indeed super-erudite. He can be a contrarian - it's a position he obviously enjoys. But he is not a jerk; quite the opposite, on the basis of these essays, at any rate.

5) A major part of the considerable appeal of this collection is just the fun in seeing such an intelligent mind at work. I recycled that sentence from my review of Zadie Smith's essay collection, but it's true a fortiori in Hitchens's case.

Among these essays, my clear favorites are those in which Hitchens discusses the work of other writers. There are about 30 of these, focusing primarily on English authors (though Flaubert, Marx, and Stieg Larsson make an appearance, as do Updike, Nabokov, Bellow, Twain, and Upton Sinclair). These essays benefit not only from Hitchens's apparently boundless erudition (lightly worn), but from his obvious desire always to educate the reader about the best qualities of the work under discussion. His introduction to Rebecca West's "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon" is simply astonishing. I cannot imagine a better introduction being written. To anything. Ever. Unless there's divine or demonic intervention. Maybe not even then.

At the time, I didn't pay all that much attention to Hitchen's death. Reading these essays has made me understand that it is a considerable loss. He will be greatly missed.(less)

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Jul 19, 2012 James rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. That's all I can say. Well, that last comment is sort of horse shit, but this is quite the collection. Hitchens' eclectiness is one of a kind; he looks into writers ranging from Karl Marx to J.G. Ballard to W. Somerset Maugham. He can talk about children's literature and the history of blowjobs in the same book binding. Of course,this is exceptionally well-written too. The prose is close to impeccable. Hitch also always brings humour, incisive wit, and self-confidence (dare I say justified...more

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About Christopher Hitchens

"Christopher Eric Hitchens (April 13, 1949 – December 15, 2011) was an English-born American author, journalist and literary critic. He was a contributor to Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, World Affairs, The Nation, Slate, Free Inquiry and a variety of other media outlets. Hitchens was also a political observer, whose best-selling books — the most famous being god Is Not Great — made him a staple of ta...more

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