Letters to a Young Contrarian

By: Christopher Hitchens

Narrated by: James Adams

Length: 3 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Art of Mentoring series

In the book that he was born to write, provocateur and best-selling author Christopher Hitchens inspires future generations of radicals, gadflies, mavericks, rebels, angry young (wo)men, and dissidents. Who better to speak to that person who finds him or herself in a contrarian position than Hitchens, who has made a career of disagreeing in profound and entertaining ways.

This book explores the entire range of "contrary positions" - from noble dissident to gratuitous pain in the butt. In an age of overly polite debate bending over backward to reach a happy consensus within an increasingly centrist political dialogue, Hitchens pointedly pitches himself in contrast. He bemoans the loss of the skills of dialectical thinking evident in contemporary society. He understands the importance of disagreement - to personal integrity, to informed discussion, to true progress - heck, to democracy itself.

Epigrammatic, spunky, witty, in your face, timeless and timely, this book is everything you would expect from a mentoring contrarian.

©2009 Christopher Hitchens (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Independent Thinkers & Those Seeking Truth

For those disgusted and exhausted with the extreme anti-intellectualism of party politics, this is for you. Speak your mind or you will lose it. The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

There are days when I miss my old convictions as if they were an amputated limb. But in general I feel better, and no less radical, and you will feel better too, I guarantee, once you leave hold of the doctrinaire and allow your chainless mind to do its own thinking.

The pleasure of being contrarian

I remember Susan Sontag very bravely in front of an audience, that was heavily turkish, insisting on parallel with Armenian Genocide. #ChristopherHitchens #LettersToAYoungContrarian

In the 20th century, which was forced to invent the term of #Genocide, the ottoman turks exterminated Christian Armenians under the cover of the war and in occupied territories, where there were few independent witnesses. #ChristopherHitchens #LettersToAYoungContrarian

Awesome!

It feels like he’s talking to you. Such a great man of integrity. I recommend for anyone who enjoys logic, reason and well read authors.

Hitch at his best

Well written and eloquently articulate - everything you’d expect from Christopher Hitchens. I highly recommend it to anyone that is open to objective reasoning and the notion of looking at our world from different perspectives.

enjoyed this

as far as i can judge it, authentic, eloquent, intelligent, without any attempts for political correctness, with a good dose of humour - the book is worth your time.

Outstanding

A pleasure to listen to and reflect on. Still a highly relevant and important work.