'Arguably: Essays,' By Christopher Hitchens
Book review by the San Francisco Chronicle
Sep 20, 2011
San Francisco Chronicle
By Phillip Lopate
Sept 4, 2011
Christopher Hitchens occupies a unique position in American letters. A transplanted Englishman living in Washington, D.C., his solid Oxbridge education and binational perspective contribute to the easy authority he commands in print. He seems willing to write on any subject - cultural, political, personal, religious (or antireligious, since he is a devout atheist) - and place his words in any periodical in the land. Book reviews for the Atlantic, reportage for Vanity Fair and opinion pieces for Slate are among his regular, though by no means exclusive, outlets.
The reason for his popularity with editors is not hard to fathom: A prolific and professional writer, he turns in copy that is unfailingly witty, intelligent, cultivated, eloquent, provocative, unstuffy, well argued and entertaining. Regardless of whether you disagree with some of his positions, you have to admire his skill at structuring with unobtrusive elegance just about any job of prose. The man is very good at what he does.
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Sep 20, 2011
San Francisco Chronicle
By Phillip Lopate
Sept 4, 2011
Christopher Hitchens occupies a unique position in American letters. A transplanted Englishman living in Washington, D.C., his solid Oxbridge education and binational perspective contribute to the easy authority he commands in print. He seems willing to write on any subject - cultural, political, personal, religious (or antireligious, since he is a devout atheist) - and place his words in any periodical in the land. Book reviews for the Atlantic, reportage for Vanity Fair and opinion pieces for Slate are among his regular, though by no means exclusive, outlets.
The reason for his popularity with editors is not hard to fathom: A prolific and professional writer, he turns in copy that is unfailingly witty, intelligent, cultivated, eloquent, provocative, unstuffy, well argued and entertaining. Regardless of whether you disagree with some of his positions, you have to admire his skill at structuring with unobtrusive elegance just about any job of prose. The man is very good at what he does.
Read more