For the Sake of Argument
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Ten years since the death of the world-renowned and controversial intellectual, this stylish edition is one of twelve commemorating Christopher Hitchens' most wry and provocative works.
Christopher Hitchens byl polemik a intelektuál, jehož psaní se vyznačovalo pronikavou analýzou a nekompromisním stylem. Zpočátku se hlásil k radikální levici, ale v průběhu života se jeho názory vyvíjely, což vedlo k překvapivým posunům v politických postojích. Byl známý svým obdivem k osvícenským hodnotám, jako je sekularismus, humanismus a rozum, a zároveň ostře kritizoval náboženské dogmata a politické postavy, které považoval za škodlivé. Jeho literární dílo je dodnes ceněno pro svou intelektuální hloubku a odvahu zpochybňovat zavedené pravdy.







Ten years since the death of the world-renowned and controversial intellectual, this stylish edition is one of twelve commemorating Christopher Hitchens' most wry and provocative works.
An outstanding collection of some of the best pieces that Christopher Hitchens wrote for the London Review of Books.
Known as the "four horsemen" of the New Atheism, four thinkers of the twenty-first century met only once. Their examination of ideas was wide-ranging. Everything that was said as they agreed and disagreed with one another, interrogated ideas and exchanged insights about religion and atheism, science and sense speaks to our present age. The dialogue was recorded, and is transcribed and presented in this book
This selection of interviews showcases the remarkable career of one of this generation’s greatest and most divisive thinkers—featuring a foreword by Stephen Fry. “ . . . pulls together some of Hitchens’s greatest dialogues, each sparkling with intelligence and wit.” —New York Times Book Review If someone says I’m doing this out of faith, I say, Why don’t you do it out of conviction? One of his generation’s greatest public intellectuals, and perhaps its fiercest, Christopher Hitchens was a brilliant interview subject. This collection—which spans from his early prominence as a hero of the Left to his controversial support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan toward the end of his life—showcases Hitch’s trademark wit on subjects as diverse as his mistrust of the media, his love of literature, his dislike of the Clintons, and his condemnation of all things religious. Beginning with an introduction and tribute from his longtime friend Stephen Fry, this collection culminates in Hitchens’s fearless final interview with Richard Dawkins, which shows a man as unafraid of death as he was of everything in life.
"Słynny esej kontrowersyjnego intelektualisty. Odwołując się do przykładów z własnego życia oraz postaw takich ważnych dla niego osób, jak Emile Zola, Rosa Parks, George Orwell czy Vaclav Havel, autor analizuje różne formy sprzeciwu i kontestacji. Opowiada o tym, jak być krytycznym, nie ulegać manipulacji mediów, nie poddawać się politycznej propagandzie i zachowywać twórczy dystans wobec rzeczywistości. Na co dzień możesz stanąć wobec różnych odmian przemocy albo hipokryzji, bałamutnego powoływania się na wolę ogółu albo małostkowych nadużyć władzy. Jeśli należysz do jakiejś organizacji politycznej, ktoś może cię poprosić o mówienie kłamstw albo półprawd służących jakiemuś krótkoterminowemu celowi. Każdy wypracowuje sobie własne sposoby radzenia sobie z takimi sytuacjami. Staraj się zachowywać, „jak gdyby” nie trzeba było ich tolerować i jakby nie było w nich nic oczywistego – pisze Hitchens do młodego adepta sztuki sprzeciwu."
"This collection of essays brings together some of the finest pieces Hitchens published over the last two decades for the first time in one book, addressing with characteristic wit and erudition the subjects he is best known for, including: the case against God, faith and religious observance; the case for intervention in Iraq; indictments of towering political figures like Bill and Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, and Henry Kissinger; and celebrations of the writers and thinkers whose work meant most to him"--
I Dieci comandamenti non reggono più. Sono confusi, ambigui, tutt'altro che "scritti nella pietra". Di fatto, sono una sorta di work in progress che costringe a un sacco di stucchevoli precisazioni. Per esempio, dire "Lo sa solo Dio" è nominare il suo nome invano? E sul non uccidere, ci sarebbe quel passaggio dell'Esodo che invita i figli d'Israele a sterminare i nemici... Tralasciando le considerazioni che si possono fare sul non desiderare la donna d'altri, o la roba d'altri. No, non reggono più, è di tutta evidenza. Erano destinati a un gruppo di tribù nomadi dei tempi andati, quindi andrebbero emendati e rivisti, in questi tempi di crimini ambientali, ladroni dell'alta finanza, guerre pseudo-sante... Per non dire di chi urla in pubblico al cellulare. Ci occorre un nuovo codice morale, insomma, ma ragionato, non in pillole. Per fortuna ci pensa Hitchens, al suo meglio, con il consueto inconfondibile humour, la sua acuta intelligenza, le sue provocazioni intellettuali mai banali o pretestuose.
Ten years since the death of the world-renowned and controversial intellectual, this stylish edition is one of twelve commemorating Christopher Hitchens' most wry and provocative works.
"A religious fundamentalist, a political operative, a primitive sermonizer, and an accomplice of worldly secular powers. Her mission has always been of this kind. The irony is that she has never been able to induce anybody to believe her. It is past time that she was duly honored and taken at her word." Among his many books, perhaps none have sparked more outrage than The Missionary Position, Christopher Hitchens's meticulous study of the life and deeds of Mother Teresa. A Nobel Peace Prize recipient beatified by the Catholic Church in 2003, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was celebrated by heads of state and adored by millions for her work on behalf of the poor. In his measured critique, Hitchens asks only that Mother Teresa's reputation be judged by her actions-not the other way around. With characteristic élan and rhetorical dexterity, Hitchens eviscerates the fawning cult of Teresa, recasting the Albanian missionary as a spurious, despotic, and megalomaniacal operative of the wealthy who long opposed measures to end poverty, and fraternized, for financial gain, with tyrants and white-collar criminals throughout the world.
"All first-rate criticism first defines what we are confronting," wrote jazz critic Whitney Balliett. By this measure, the essays of Christopher Hitchens rank among the best. For nearly four decades, Hitchens has articulated the core principles of reason, tolerance, and skepticism that underpin our civilization—principles that must be defended anew by each generation. Recognized as one of the greatest conversationalists, alongside figures like Sir Patrick Leigh-Fermor and Sir Tom Stoppard, Hitchens invites readers into a democratic dialogue, engaging and reasoning with them. His formidable knowledge, akin to an encyclopedic treasure, feels like a conversation where he follows the logic of his thoughts, unafraid to expose fraudulence, denounce injustice, and critique hypocrisy. Readers have come to admire his eloquence, wit, and readiness to confront adversaries. In this collection, Hitchens offers fresh insights on figures like Charles Dickens, Karl Marx, and George Orwell, enriched by his experiences from traveling and reporting in places like Iran and China. His directness, elegance, and humor applied to a wide range of subjects set a high standard for essayists. This volume presents an intellectual self-portrait of a writer dedicated to the pursuit of reason and justice, showcasing his profound love for the English language.
On November 26, 2010, intellectual juggernaut and staunch atheist Christopher Hitchens went head-to-head with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of the Western worlds most openly devout political leaders, on the highly charged topic of religion.
Diaries Volume Two, 1960-1969
This second volume of Christopher Isherwood's remarkable diaries begins on his fifty-sixth birthday, capturing the transition from the fifties to a decade of social and sexual revolution. Isherwood takes readers through the bohemian landscape of Southern California, the liberated atmosphere of London, the vibrant cosmopolitanism of New York, and the rugged Australian outback. He chronicles his spiritual quest guided by his Hindu guru and shares the emotional complexities of his relationship with American painter Don Bachardy, who is thirty years his junior and navigating his own artistic path. The diaries are filled with sharp gossip and psychological insights about cultural icons of the era, including Francis Bacon, Richard Burton, and Mick Jagger. However, they are most revealing about Isherwood himself—his literary works, film writing, college teaching, and romantic entanglements. He seamlessly connects diverse topics, from Beckett to Brando and the opening of "Cabaret" to a detailed analysis of Gide. The backdrop includes significant political and historical events: the Cold War anxieties, Gagarin's spaceflight, the Vietnam War, and the Summer of Love. Isherwood, known for his prophetic portrayals of a morally bankrupt Europe before World War II, offers an unparalleled chronicle of the decade that profoundly influences contemporary life.
Over the course of his 60 years, Christopher Hitchens has been a citizen of both the United States and the United Kingdom. He has been both a socialist opposed to the war in Vietnam and a supporter of the U.S. war against Islamic extremism in Iraq. He has been both a foreign correspondent in some of the world's most dangerous places and a legendary bon vivant with an unquenchable thirst for alcohol and literature. He is a fervent atheist, raised as a Christian, by a mother whose Jewish heritage was not revealed to him until her suicide. In other words, Christopher Hitchens contains multitudes. He sees all sides of an argument. And he believes the personal is political. This is the story of his life, lived large.
In this unique biography of Thomas Jefferson, leading journalist and social critic Christopher Hitchens offers a startlingly new and provocative interpretation of our Founding Father—a man conflicted by power who wrote the Declaration of Independence and acted as ambassador to France yet yearned for a quieter career in the Virginia legislature. A masterly writer, Jefferson was an awkward public speaker. A professed proponent of emancipation, he elided the issue of slavery from the Declaration of Independence and continued to own human property. A reluctant candidate, he left an indelible presidential legacy. With intelligence, insight, eloquence, and wit, Hitchens gives us an artful portrait of a complex, formative figure and his turbulent era.
POPULAR CULTURE. Offers a history of how it came to be the dominant mode in the USA. Ehrenreich conceived of the book when she became ill with breast cancer, and found herself surrounded by pink ribbons and platitudes. She balked at the way her anger about having the disease was seen as unhealthy and dangerous by health professionals and other sufferers. In her droll and incisive analysis of the cult of cheerfulness, Ehrenreich ranges across contemporary religion, business and the economy, arguing, for example, that undue optimism and a fear of giving bad news sowed the seeds for the current banking crisis. She argues passionately that the insistence on being cheerful actually leads to a lonely focus inwards, a blaming of oneself for any misfortunes, and thus to political apathy. Rigorous, insightful and bracing as always, and also incredibly funny, "Smile or Die" uncovers the dark side of the 'have a nice day' nation.
'Vanity Fair Portraits' traces the cultural history of the 20th century and its leading personalities in the pages of a magazine that helped usher in the modern age and which has itself become a benchmark of modern achievement.
This year's selection includes William Langewiesche's probing investigation in Vanity Fair of the slaughter of twenty-four Iraqis in Haditha; C. J. Chivers's chilling account in Esquire of the 2004 hostage crisis in Beslan, which killed 331 people, 186 of them children; Susan Casey's revelation in Best Life of a virtually unknown, Texas-sized garbage dump resting at the bottom of the Pacific ocean; and Andrew Corsello's harrowing portrait in GQ of Robert Mugabe's mad rule and two men-a white farmer and a fiery black priest-who strive for forgiveness instead of hate. The collection also includes Vanessa Grigoriadis's hilarious portrait of fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld in New York Magazine; Christopher Hitchens's profile of survivors of Agent Orange in Vanity Fair; Sandra Tsing Loh's coverage of the stay-at-home-mommy debate in the Atlantic Monthly; Paul Theroux's thoughts on the dangers of anthropomorphism and our misconceptions about birds in the Smithsonian; Janet Reitman's unraveling of the mysteries of Scientology in Rolling Stone; and the work of nine other exceptional writers.
Práva člověka jsou od té doby, co vyšla, obdivována, kritizována, ostouzena a potlačována, ale polemik a komentátor Christopher Hitchens v této knize obdivuje prozíravost onoho díla a baví se jeho svárlivostí. Především pak Hitchens ukazuje, jak kniha Thomase Paina utváří filozofický základní kámen první demokratické republiky.
Presents excerpts on the subject of religion from the writings of such notable non-believers as John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Mark Twain, H. L. Mencken, Albert Einstein, Richard Dawkins, and Salman Rushdie.
Do rukou se vám dostává kniha od autora označovaného za jednoho z nejskvělejších novinářů naší doby (London Observer), v níž diskuze o úloze náboženství ve veřejném životě získává zcela novou podobu. Christopher Hitchens se v ní s jedinečnou erudicí a inteligencí věnuje nejnaléhavější otázce současnosti: zhoubné síle náboženství ve světě. V této působivé polemice s věřícími předkládá Hitchens základní argumenty proti náboženství (a ve prospěch sekulárnějšího přístupu k životu), a to formou podrobné a poučené interpretace hlavních náboženských textů. Hitchens nám vypráví příběh o vlastních nebezpečných zkušenostech s náboženstvím a popisuje svou duchovní cestu směrem k sekulárnímu nazírání na svět, založenému na vědě a rozumu. Je to svět, v němž jsou nebesa nahrazena záběry vesmíru získanými pomocí Hubbleova dalekohledu, nad nimiž se nám tají dech, a Mojžíš a hořící keř ustupují nádheře a symetrii dvojité šroubovice DNA. Bůh nás nestvořil, píše. My jsme stvořili Boha. Náboženství, vysvětluje Hitchens, nabízí zkreslenou představu o našem původu, naší podstatě a vesmíru. Tím, že jej dětem vštěpujeme, jim škodíme a ohrožujeme náš svět. Vůbec nezáleží na tom, zda jste celý život věřící, nebo přesvědčení ateisté, či zda patříte k těm, kteří si o úloze, jakou hraje náboženství v životě, neudělali zatím jasno; polemika předložená na stránkách knihy vás vyprovokuje k zamyšlení a k přání se do ní zapojit.
A beautiful graphic adaptation of George Orwells timeless and timely allegorical novel.
Features three sections: 'Love', 'Poverty', and 'War'. 'Love' celebrates the work of Joyce, Proust and Borges. 'Poverty' includes a series of assessments of Michael Moore and the cult of the Kennedys. This book's final section, 'War', contains reportage from North Korea, Pakistan and Iraq.
Presents an eyewitness account of the 2003 war in Iraq while arguing that the war actually began in 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and discusses how the conflict has divided public opinion.
This title presents an assessment of George Orwell's writing, and why it retains its central importance in a modern world. The author argues and defends Orwell's politics and gives an introduction to his work.
In the book that he was born to write, provocateur and best-selling author Christopher Hitchens inspires future generations of radicals, gadflies, mavericks, rebels, angry young (wo)men, and dissidents. Who better to speak to that person who finds him or herself in a contrarian position than Hitchens, who has made a career of disagreeing in profound and entertaining ways.This book explores the entire range of "contrary positions"-from noble dissident to gratuitous pain in the butt. In an age of overly polite debate bending over backward to reach a happy consensus within an increasingly centrist political dialogue, Hitchens pointedly pitches himself in contrast. He bemoans the loss of the skills of dialectical thinking evident in contemporary society. He understands the importance of disagreement-to personal integrity, to informed discussion, to true progress-heck, to democracy itself. Epigrammatic, spunky, witty, in your face, timeless and timely, this book is everything you would expect from a mentoring contrarian.
Eine Lichtgestalt der Diplomatie, einen Superstar der Außenpolitik, ja einen "Weltenlenker" (DIE ZEIT) hat man Henry Kissinger genannt. Kaum ein Außenpolitiker des 20. Jahrhunderts ist mit so überschwenglichen Ruhmesworten gefeiert worden wie Henry Kissinger. Wer bislang Henry Kissinger Vorwürfe zu machen hatte, er habe sich im Zuge seiner heldenhaften Missionen Fehler zu Schulden kommen lassen, hat das zumeist nur hinter vorgehaltener Hand geäußert. Zum ersten Mal hat der englische Journalist Christopher Hitchens anhand bislang verschlossener Quellen den Beweis geführt, dass Kissinger sogar Strafverfolgung verdiene "wegen Kriegsverbrechen, Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit und wegen Verschwörung zu Mord, Entführung und Folter."
With the detention of Augusto Pinochet, and intense international pressure for the arrest of Slobodan Milosovic, the possibility of international law acting against tyrants around the world is emerging as a reality. In this incendiary book, Hitchens takes the floor as prosecuting counsel and mounts a devastating indictment of a man whose ambitions and ruthlessness have directly resulted in both individual murders and widespread, indiscriminate slaughter. He investigates and reveals Kissingers' involvement in: the deliberate mass killings of civilian populations in Indochina; the deliberate collusion in mass murder and assassination in Bangladesh; the personal suborning and planning of a murder, of a senior constitutional officer in a democratic nation that the USA was not war with - Chile; the incitement and enabling of a mass genocide in East Timor; and the personal involvement in the kidnap and murder of a journalist living in Washinton DC.
"Just as the necessary qualification for a good liar is a good memory, so the essential equipment of a would-be lie detector is a good timeline, and a decent archive." In NO ONE LEFT TO LIE TO, a New York Times bestseller, Christopher Hitchens casts an unflinching eye on the Clinton political machine and offers a searing indictment of a president who sought to hold power at any cost. With blistering wit and meticulous documentation, Hitchens masterfully deconstructs Clinton's abject propensity for pandering to the Left while delivering to the Right, and he argues that the president's personal transgressions were ultimately inseparable from his political corruption. Hitchens questions the president's refusals to deny accusations of rape by reputable women and lambasts, among numerous impostures, his insistence on playing the race card, the shortsightedness of his welfare bill, his ludicrous war on drugs, and his abandonment of homosexuals in the form of the Defense of Marriage Act. Opportunistic statecraft, crony capitalism, "divide and rule" identity politics, and populist manipulations-these are perhaps Clinton's greatest and most enduring legacies.
Ten years since the death of the world-renowned and controversial intellectual, this stylish edition is one of twelve commemorating Christopher Hitchens' most wry and provocative works.