One can't agree with every position that Hitchens takes in these 107 essays published the year that he died, but it is almost always a pleasure to read him, and you are likely to learn some new words, quotes, and history from his massive erudition. ( )

Hitchens pieces are pretty much compulsively readable, but he does have an annoying habit of using obscure words and unfamiliar foreign phrases. Sometimes his sentences are so non-straightforward that two or three reads still can't make them out. But this doesn't seem to affect my pleasure of reading him much. This collection, for me, is at its best when dealing with things in the past, literary, historical, or cultural. His essays on then-contemporary events are well-written, but they mostly fall into two types: those that are extremely depressing or those that are OBE (overcome by events). And most of the OBE ones are pretty depressing as well, because not that much good has happened in the world since Hitchens died in 2011. I'm sure he would have managed to keep writing intelligently about it, but unfortunately the clear insights and good intentions of a few brilliant men and women don't count for anything in the world of 2023. ( )

i mean other than the sexist and racist shit it's pretty good writing i guess ( )

one of the greatest commentators of our age, even if i only agree with about 75% of his views. it's tragic that his voice may be silenced when he still had decades more to write. i wish that i'd been able to run into him on the streets of palo alto, where he spent a lot of time, and to buy him a cup of coffee and chat -- as did a friend of mine, who told me that hitchens was charming and grateful for the interest in his work. ( )

This fat collection of essays allowed me to confirm my General Theory of Christopher Hitchens: Reliably correct on literature; highly unreliable on politics; reliably wrong on religion. But always fun to read.

As much as I enjoy him, I’m extremely wary of his fans, who make me very nervous. He’s perhaps the author I’m least likely to read outside of my home, for fear that someone will see the cover and want to talk about it. No thank you. ( )