Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) was a prolific author, columnist, editor, and book critic, writing on issues ranging from politics, to religion, to the nature of debate itself. He was a regular contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, Vanity Fair, Slate, Harper's, and numerous other publications, as well as the recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction and the National Magazine Award. Hitchen's 2007 manifesto God Is Not Great was a #1 New York Times bestseller and National Book Award nominee. His other New York Times bestsellers include Hitch 22, Arguably, and Mortality.
" ... a complex portrait of a public intellectual."--Alexandra
Alter, The Wall Street Journal
"... a fat and juicy memoir of a fat and juicy life."--Diana
McLellan, The Washington Post
"Hitch-22 is among the loveliest paeans to the dearness of one's
friends . . . I've ever read. 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."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times
"a fascinating, absorbing book: the rare contemporary memoir that
is the record of a life of true accomplishment and authentic
adventure . . . Htitchens is bravely, or at least defiantly, candid
about qualities his detractors might use to undermine or perhaps
explain his love of war and his rabid hatred for religious
people"--Lee Seigel, The New York Observer
"[An] extraordinary memoir by a truly astonishing figure of our
literary age . . . This is among the most awaited books of the
season, and while it confounds, misleads, exasperates and, on
occasion, even bores, it also entertains to an almost shocking
degree and illuminates almost as much. I laughed out loud -
raucously and continuously - reading this book."--Jeff Simon,
Buffalo News
"[D]electable, sassy fun . . . this book is intelligent and humane
. . . Hitch-22 reminded me why I love the author of The Missionary
Position, his fervent slapping of Mother Teresa, and his book about
the war crimes of Henry Kissinger. Hitchens takes no prisoners, not
even himself."--Mark Oppenheimer, The New Haven Review
"[Hitchens] indulges in both an endearing critical self-examniation
and an action-packed adventure story."--The New Haven Advocate
"[H]e has so many great quotes and quotables . . . that one cannot
read his latest masterpiece for having to stop, find a pencil and
page stickers in order to underline and signify his many remarks,
each greater than the other."--Liz Smith, wowOwow.com
"After reading Hitch-22, the only thing you can be sure of is that
this flawed knight will not breathe contentedly unless he has a
dragon to slay."--Ariel Gonzales, The Miami Herald
"As contemptuous, digressive, righteous, and riotously funny as the
rest of the author's incessant output, this memoir is an effective
coming-of-age story, regardless of what one may think of the
resulting adult . . . Hitchens paints a credible and even affecting
self-portrait."--The New Yorker
"At its heart, Hitch-22 is a celebration of literature and a
denunciation of idleness. "Hitchens is inarguably a man of action:
He pursues history as it happens . . . eloquent, enlightening, and
entertaining."--Gregg LaGambina, The Onion's AV Club
"Christopher Hitchens may long to be a cogent man of reason, and he
can certainly be a pitiless adversary. But he knows there are two
sides to any decent match, and it's touching, in HITCH-22, to see
how often he'll race to the other side of the court to return his
own serve. Which may explain why, though he tries to be difficult,
he's so hard to dislike."--The New York Times Book Review
"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 ... With Hitchens
one simply goes along for the ride. The destination hardly
matters."--Ed Luce, The Financial Times
"Hitch is as Hitch does, and he's not apologizing to anyone."--Drew
Toal, Time Out New York
"Hitchens offers up surprising revelations about the methods behind
his madness as one of the world's most beloved and often hated
scribes . . . bold and brassy Hitchens characteristically treats
himself as the subject he knows best."--The Philadelphia City
Paper
"If you find yourself in the midst of Christopher Hitchens's memoir
and he hasn't said something to anger, inspire, or at least annoy
you, wait a few pages. More the account of an intellectual and
political odyssey than a conventional autobiography, HITCH-22
chronicles the critic-journalist-activist's often storm-tossed
journey across the ideological spectrum. What makes it a most
rewarding trip is that he's a traveling companion with a vigorous
mind and a gift for sparkling prose."--www.bookreporter.com
"In this frank, often wickedly funny account, Hitchens traces his
evolution as a fiercely independent thinker and enemy of people who
are convinced of their absolute certainty ... Revealing and
riveting."--Kirkus Review
"One of the most engaging, exciting books I've read in years . . .
The writing is lovely - introduction aside, which threatens early
onset pretentia - Hitchens' cold-eyed evaluation of his younger
self feels honest. To be sure, "Hitch 22'' is often a chronicle of
Hitchens' best efforts. He teaches us that "cheap booze is false
economy'' and reveals a youth engaged in boarding school
homosexuality. But thankfully, Hitchens' efforts, friends, and
close calls are rendered wonderfully in this strange book.
Ultimately, "Hitch 22'' is about cultivating and maintaining one's
intellectual integrity. As Hitchens writes, "[I]t is always how
people think that counts for much more than what they think.''. . .
But memoir generates pleasure through voice and sensibility, not
through comprehensiveness. Nobody ever said self-awareness must
lead to self-revelation, and even if you don't like what Hitchens
thinks, it's easy to admire how he thinks."--Michael Washbum, The
Boston Globe
"Reading Hitch-22, his fascinating memoir of a career in combat
journalism (both literal and figurative), one gets a sense that
those looking for that tragic moment when a reliable man of the
left became a fellow traveler of the right are asking the wrong
question. On the big political issues that have long animated
him-Middle Eastern politics, the dangers of religious
messianism-his views have been surprisingly constant."--Michael C.
Moynihan , Reason Magazine
"The most erudite and astute political and social commentator of
this era has written a memoir that not only give the reader a view
of the man behind the words but also a perceptive look at society
over the past decades. Hitchens fascinates with the life he has
lived and observed and, as always, relates his story with precision
and consideration."--Bill Cusamano, Nicola's Books
"When the colorful, prolific journalist shares a tender memory, he
quickly converts it into a larger observation about politics,
always for him the most crucial sphere of moral and intellectual
life."--The New York Times Book Review
"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. Give HITCH 22 an 11 out of 10 for smarts, then double it
for entertainment value."--Kyle Smith, People Magazine
"With the possible exception of Tom Wolfe and Maureen Dowd's,
Christopher Hitchens' marvelous byline is the most archly kinetic
in current-day American letters. Every article, review and essay
has the romantic whiff of a durable vintage. You might disagree
with him. You might question his motives. But not for a second will
you ever be bored . . . goes on to call the memoir cunning,
illuminating . . . Being able to shape-change, shed skins, sit on
the hillside overlooking suburbia like a coyote, Hitchens
represents a dying breed of public intellectual whose voice matters
precisely because it can't be easily pigeonholed or
ignored."--Douglas Brinkley, The Los Angeles Times
Hitchens expresses ambivalence about the term "public intellectual"
but, as "Hitch-22" demonstrates, it suits him. The disputatious bon
vivant is alive on the page, behind the speaker's podium and in
"unglamorous houses on off-peak cable TV."--The Sunday
Oregonian
Christopher Hitchens' memoir has the same nerve and frankness that
first made me admire him . . . His perspective on becoming an
American citizen is refreshing at a time when it's easy to become
jaded about our role in the world.--Mark Rahner, The Seattle Times
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