Wow! eBook
Arguably Main Edition
Author(s): Christopher Hitchens (Author)
- Publisher: Atlantic Books
- Publication Date: 1 Oct. 2011
- Edition: Main
- Language: English
- Print length: 800 pages
- ISBN-10: 085789255X
- ISBN-13: 9780857892553
Book Description
‘As soon as we abandon our own reason’, wrote Bertrand Russell, ‘and are content
to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles.’
For over forty years, Christopher Hitchens has proclaimed truth where others have spun falsehood and written, with passionate commitment, on matters that others fear to broach. This volume of essays encompasses Hitchens’ writing over the past decade on politics, literature and religion.
In Arguably Hitchens explores a wide range of cultural and political issues, past and present. His fresh perceptions of figures as diverse as Charles Dickens, Karl Marx, Rebecca West and Philip Larkin are matched in brilliance by his acerbic discussions and intrepid observations, gathered over a lifetime of travelling and reporting from destinations such as Iran, China and Pakistan.
Hitchens’ life has above all else been one of defiance and wit, courage and humility: in an age of digital punditry and twenty-four hour hucksterism, he has been a voice of reason amid the clamour, making an indelible mark on politics and literature on both sides of the Atlantic. Arguably is the indispensible companion to the Anglosphere’s pre-eminent political writer.
Editorial Reviews
Review
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)
“
“From the Hardcover edition.”
