Ian

After listening to Christopher Hitchens' own oral reading of his book, I read a few reviews online. While most praised the London-born Vanity Fair columnist's prose and wit, many took him to task over alleged wild generalizations and selective readings of supposedly sacred texts and events.

Never mind them. Hitchens' book is a scathing -- and, were this a just world, sobering -- examination not only of the tenets and histories of the three "big box" monotheisms of the world, but also of the idea of religion in general. While Hitchens lays out very specific cases against Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (he even reserves a lengthy chapter for the fallacies inherent to the supposedly benign "Eastern" religions), his most potent vitriol is reserved for that universal class of charlatans who have made their living out of the cynical and systematic usage of mankind's vestigial fear of the unknown.

Hitchens' draws on religious texts (including the Torah, Bible, and Koran) as well as many religious writers from throughout history to make his often hilarious and well-reasoned case against God.

Channeling Voltaire, he muses that instead of God creating man in his own image, man creates God in his.

Hitchens' accent is very light, and on the whole he is very enjoyable to listen to, although he occasionally mumbles and is prone to finishing paragraphs off with a somewhat louder final phrase. However, he is careful to pause clearly when quoting any lengthy passages.

"God Is Not Great" won't appeal to believers, but for anyone who is cynical toward the overall effect religion has had on world history and humanity, look no further.