Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens
$7.99
30 in stock
Hitch-22
- A Memoir
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Christopher Hitchens
- Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs
Publisher's Summary
In this long-awaited and candid memoir, Hitchens re-traces the footsteps of his life to date, from his childhood in Portsmouth, with his adoring, tragic mother and reserved Naval officer father; to his life in Washington DC, the base from which from he would launch fierce attacks on tyranny of all kinds. Along the way, he recalls the girls, boys and booze; the friendships and the feuds; the grand struggles and lost causes; and the mistakes and misgivings that have characterised his life.
Hitch-22 is, by turns, moving and funny, charming and infuriating, enraging and inspiring. It is an indispensable companion to the life and thought of our pre-eminent political writer.
Narrated by Christopher Hitchens himself shortly before his untimely death, this is a poignant listening experience.
©2011 Christopher Hitchens (P)2011 Audible Ltd
W. Stokeley
Tour De Force but rebalance your speakers
Firstly I want to say an objective analysis of this book for me is impossible. I came to Hitchens through YouTube I think and vía Dawkins and Carl Sagan. I had been an agnostic before – but he hooked me on the atheist bent. When I finished god is not great, hitch 22 was the next step for me.
I owe hitch a great personal debt. In 2017 he revolutionised my life, leading me away from the self improvement tomes which were pretty much the only books I was reading – into a new world of critical thought, philosophy (though I had dabbled with this before), literature, politics and poetry.
I am now a WH Auden fan. I listen to classical music, and Gilbert and Sullivan. I have read David Hume, Lucretius, Marx and more. My to read list is populated by Hitch’s suggestions. Partially due to his influence, and the influence of others in my life i went back to university and started studying my masters degree. I met my girlfriend there. My politics started shifting from the traditional conservative area that I had associated with to more to the left, although I suspect that in his later years hitch would have not made too much of this. Crucially hitch has taught me to rediscover my critical faculties which have laid dormant for over 10 years and my love of the written word. He taught me the dialectic, the didactic and critical tenacity I owe him everything for my own personal renaissance.
If he can do that for me, imagine what he can do for you. This book tells you about the events, the politics and crucially the books that moulded him. Grasp the lessons that you can. It merits a second go, though I’m likely to do it with the hard copy next time to actually grasp more of the lessons to be squeezed out of it.
This is the only book I’ve ever awarded five stars. It should be part of your library.
One caveat – hitch’s baritone is so lovely, but it is so bassy the reverberations made it a difficult listen on a set of Bose speakers. I think the producers could’ve done a slightly better job with the balancing of the audio in what is otherwise a fantastic book.
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