The Portable Atheist

Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever

By: Christopher Hitchens

Narrated by: Nicholas Ball

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

From the number-one 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.

©2007 Christopher Hitchens (P)2007 Phoenix Books, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A fascinating collection of readings from some of the West's greatest thinkers." ( Publishers Weekly)

Only half of the book and some out of sync pages

I really really enjoyed the material however when I followed along in the book there seemed to be some essays that skipped a page or so that the book provided. Also when reading along some essays were completely skipped. I thought I was going crazy till this audio recording concluded on page 207 of 480 of my paperback copy. I may in fact have a earlier edition of the book that lacks the up to date revisions but for certain this audio copy is only half of the book. The content is superb. Would like it in its entirety.

Rationality Explored

This book is a strong collection of writings in support of atheism. Yet, it is also a treasure of philosophical readings for those who value rational thinking.

He does it again

For the budding atheist or for the apologetic looking for insite to why atheists think the way they do; Hitchens provides a long and beautiful list of philosophy relating to the age old battle. His introductions and small essays regarding each author/thinker, is well researched and executed (as most of his writings were).

Great book but...

If you could sum up The Portable Atheist in three words, what would they be?

Collection of treasures

Any additional comments?

It is a pity that the audiobook is not properly bookmarked, which is a real problem when dealing with a collections of 47 texts from different authors.

Absolutely critical that you listen to this book.

Hitchens has assembled and codified so many great thinkers. You cannot find an argument for theism that is not expertly refuted here.

Great with short lull in the middle

A lull in the middle but the ending was well worth the read. Hitchens does a great job

Loved the array of great thinkers contained in the pages!

Twain's biting wit was my favorite. Mencken's list of fallen gods grew tiresome. Overall, it was well done!

Valuable ABRIDGED Anthology, Worth the effort

I must warn you that some texts are complex and very difficult to follow in audio format. This is not an excuse to give up. There’s an important distinction between reading for relaxation and entertainment, or reading just for information, on the one hand, and reading for understanding, for deepening your mind, and for acquiring insight, on the other. (Please take a look at Adler’s “How to Read a Book”, also available on Audible.)

This book is well read with a clear professional voice. As one of the reviews said: the main difficulty in listening to this as an audiobook is that it is very difficult to tell when the narration from Hitchens ends and the excerpts from other authors begin and vice versa.

There are many, many excerpts that are a please to listen to. Here are the three I enjoyed the must:

(Due to the space limitation and since I cannot include URLs, please Google it. The three essays are in public domain.)

- George Eliot, Evangelical Teaching: Dr. Cumming (ch.3 of The Essays of George Eliot);

- Anatole France, Miracle (p. 175 of The Garden of Epicurus);

- Bertrand Russell, An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish.

Thanks to Nicholas Ball’s reading, they became even more powerful.

Good read, terrible listen.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This is a collection of short writings on atheism. However, the Narrator reads the whole book in the same monotone. I had to constantly have to rewind and pay close attention when it switched from one author to the other. Even the commentary by Hitchens between the chapters were just plowed into by the previous chapter. This book could be greatly improved by a well placed pause or two. That being said I was very interested by the content.

Introduction to great atheist thinkers

Would you listen to The Portable Atheist again? Why?

Yes. To reenforce the history and philosophy of the people Hitchens speaks about and to reacquaint myself with their writings on a basic level.

Any additional comments?

A wonderful book to introduce you to atheists of history and you get a good foundation for what makes up modern atheistic thought. The book also wants me to go back and read the people Hitchens references for a deeper insight into who they are and how they thought about religion.