Product Description

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of God Is Not Great, a provocative and entertaining guided tour of atheist and agnostic thought through the ages--with never-before-published pieces by Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Christopher Hitchens continues to make the case for a splendidly godless universe in this first-ever gathering of the influential voices--past and present--that have shaped his side of the current (and raging) God/no-god debate. With Hitchens as your erudite and witty guide, you'll be led through a wealth of philosophy, literature, and scientific inquiry, including generous portions of the words of Lucretius, Benedict de Spinoza, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Mark Twain, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, H. L. Mencken, Albert Einstein, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and many others well-known and lesser known. And they're all set in context and commented upon as only Christopher Hitchens--"political and literary journalist extraordinaire" (Los Angeles Times)--can.

Atheist? Believer? Uncertain? No matter: The Portable Atheist will speak to you and engage you every step of the way.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1866 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Hitchens, an avowed atheist and author of the bestseller God Is Not Great, is a formidable intellectual who finds the notion of belief in God to be utter nonsense. The author is clear in his introduction that religion has caused more than its fair share of world problems. "Religion invents a problem where none exists by describing the wicked as also made in the image of god and the sexually nonconformist as existing in a state of incurable mortal sin that can incidentally cause floods and earthquakes." The readings Hitchens chooses to bolster his atheist argument are indeed engaging and important. Hobbes, Spinoza, Mill and Marx are some of the heavyweights representing a philosophical viewpoint. From the world of literature the author assembles excerpts from Shelley, Twain, Conrad, Orwell and Updike. All are enjoyable to read and will make even religious believers envious of the talent gathered for this anthology. What these dynamic writers are railing against often enough, however, is a strawman: an immature, fundamentalist, outdated, and even embarrassing style of religion that many intelligent believers have long since cast off. It could be that Hitchens and his cast of nonbelievers are preaching to the choir and their message is tired and spent. However, this remains a fascinating collection of readings from some of the West’s greatest thinkers.

Review
"Those objections and the writings Hitchens assembles to buttress them will surely bring on new controversies, which is just the sort of thing on which he has thrived over a long and fruitful career."—Kirkus

"My prayers are answered!"—The New York Observer

"A fascinating collection of articles that just say no to religion…Required reading for anyone who believes, disbelieves, or just isn’t sure yet."—People, "Critic's Choice"

"Hitchens has returned to the Belief Wars backed by a full army…the Godless Warrior marshals in an Atheist A-Team…to buttress his own arguments…Hitchens is the guide as well as the commentartor linking it all together."—San Diego Tribune

"Contrarian Christopher Hitchens' The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever should be sufficient fodder for anyone uncomfortable with the notion of a creator."—Hartford Courant

About the Author
Christopher Hitchens is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. His numerous books include Letters to a Young Contrarian and Why Orwell Matters.

Customer Reviews

"The fool has said in his heart, There is no God". Psalm 14:1
Your thirst for answers can only truly be quenched within the Bible. God's inspired, infalliable, and inerrant Word holds answers to scientific questions throughout. Besides creation, the Bible explains truths from the sciences of genetics, isotasy, agriculture, astronomy, paleontology anatomy, medicine, and many more! All of them thousands of years before man discovered them on their own.

The Bible tells us that we were created to give praise to our Heavenly Father. Once you realize that man is wretched and sinful and that only through Christ can we escape God's wrath on Judgement Day, then and only then can you be truly happy, secure in the knowledge of your eternal life.

So, what should a person do to get to Heaven? If you said, "There is no Heaven" or "You just have to live a good life",YOU ARE WRONG. Stay with me and find out why. Let's see if you've been a good person. Jesus said "Whoever looks with lust has committed adultery in their heart". Have you ever lusted? Have you hated anyone(committed murder in your heart)? Have you made a god in your mind to suit yourself(idolatry)? Have you used God's name in vain? Have you ever stolen anything regardless of value? If you have then you are a thief. If you have told just one lie, then you are a liar and CANNOT get into heaven. On Judgment Day you will be found guilty and end up in Hell forever. But that's not God's will. We broke his Law but because Jesus paid our fine by dying on the cross, God can forgive us. If you REPENTand trust the Savior, God will forgive your sins and grant you everlasting life. So confess your sins to God today, put your faith in Christ, and obey God. Read John 14:21

Has it all
So much of this book is moving, personal and witty. It includes a brilliant article by Michael Shermer www.michaelshermer.com about how God made it look like evolution happened in such a convincing way to test our faith. Daniel Dennett wrote about how an accident left him close to death (obviously, he recovered, thanks to a caring medical staff) and what this says about human goodness. Old and unexpected writers, such as Mark Twain and Omar Khayyam, are fascinating reading. These present facets of atheism that many of us wouldn't have thought of.
If you think Hitch et al present a "straw man" view of religion that is childish, irrational and counterproductive, do some research and you'll see that a lot of people in the U.S. do believe this way.

Don't Judge a Book by its Title
Christopher Hitchens is a formidable writer who has dared to enmesh himself in the business of religion and politics, and has plenty of polemic writings suited for criticisms or apologetics (depending on one's worldview,) but his choices for this anthology are priceless. Living in the heartland of the Bible Belt, I find it difficult to sport mixed company in my home and have this title on my bookshelf, but I will nonetheless do precisely that because far from betraying some "fundamentalism" of non-belief, this collection is a conversation-starter.

There are roughly forty-seven writings that cover a few hundred years of thinkers who speak to their own age in a clarity that continues to be relevant to this generation's issues, struggles, and human endeavors. This volume should be read along with Jennifer Michael Hecht's *Doubt*, and Louise M. Antony's *Philosophers Without Gods*, both incredible works in their own right.

There are several reviews that reflect the contents of this anthology, so I'll only speak to the personal appeal of this collection. Sam Harris sums it up in a sentence: "...wanting to know how the world is leaves one vulnerable to new evidence." In contrast to the book subtitle "Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever," I would stress how valuable this book might be to the average reader, regardless of belief. Who might be threatened by reading John Stuart Mill, David Hume, Bertrand Russell, or George Eliot? I find myself hungry for more of these writers and thinkers. Thank the gods for an Amazon "wish list," and I would wager that after reading this anthology, yours would grow by two or three books! This is a collection that will stimulate one's appetite for more reading. This is the mark of a good book.

I may disagree with Christopher Hitchens on a variety of his political or religious points, but the collection of writings here is second to none, and I sincerely believe that humanity would be better served if these writers were discussed in more mainstream dialogue. It would be such a refreshing change from the election-time diatribes that divide, demonize, and segregate us into tribal factions--maybe those inescapable conditions that are uniquely human. But after reading these selections, and seeing these great thinkers throughout many ages with their hopes that we might escape some of the self-inflicted chains of human bondage, I pass this book on to my son with hopes that he might live a sincerely free-thinking, more altruistic and compassionate life.

I highly recommend this book for your consideration, and hope you enjoy it as much as I do. This was one of those "life changers" on my personal bookshelf.