Letters to a Young Contrarian Paperback - 2005
by Christopher Hitchens
Inspiring a future generation of radicals, gadflies, mavericks, and dissidents, Hitchens presents a completely individual meditation on what it means to think, live, and be to the contrary.
Reader reviews for Letters to a Young Contrarian
Review summary
. I find it a pleasure that Christopher Hitchens writes as eloquently in praise (his books on Orwell and Thomas Paine) as he does in damnation (everything else). His book LETTERS TO A YOUNG CONTRARIAN (Basic Books, 2001), with its open allusion to Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet (which passes under Hitchens’s eye with a few but relatively light scorch marks) is a discussion of the role of contrarian or, as the cynics might have it, professional nay-sayer: “A disposition for resistance, however slight, against arbitrary authority or witless mass opinion, or a thrill of recognition when you encounter some well-wrought phrase from a free intelligence….To be in opposition is not to be a nihilist. And there is no decent or charted way of making a living at it. It is something you are, not something you do.†The role has its temptations and dangers, of which Hitchens is gratifyingly aware—the book serves as an assurance, if you are thrown by consistent nay-sayers, that Hitchens writes in skeptic good faith. And it presents, in brief and effectively restrained form, Hitchens’s objections to religious thought. These are questions, if you pretend to faith, that you have to answer, but in form beside which Hitchens’s much-discussed GOD IS NOT GREAT is a slack and over-insistent piece of writing. Being Hitchens, the book is full of questions you should be answering (this is the twenty-first century, if you had not noticed) and plenty of humor; one story is offered “as part of my recommendation that one acts bloody-minded as often as the odds are favorable and even sometimes when they are not; it’s good exercise.†LETTERS is a spirited and enlivening book that delivers the bad news with a maximum of precision and zest.
a reader
Write a review for this book
Important Terms and Guidelines
- Please focus on the book’s content and context. Also, add any personal comments as to how you enjoyed the book. Substantiate your likes and dislikes. You may make comparisons to other books.
- Reviews must be at least 140 characters in length.
- Please do not reveal critical plot elements.
- This is not a help line. Contact customer support if you need help.
Your review must not include:
- Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other insulting language not suitable for public domain
- Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers or websites.
- Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other contact information.
- Overly critical comments about other reviews or reviewers
- Time-sensitive material (i.e. promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.)
- Availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information
From the publisher
First line
Details
- Title Letters to a Young Contrarian
- Author Christopher Hitchens
- Binding Paperback
- Edition Later ptg
- Pages 141
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Basic Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Publication date 2005-04-01
- ISBN 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Weight 0.32 lbs (0.15 kg)
- Dimensions 8.01 x 5.01 x 0.43 in (20.35 x 12.73 x 1.09 cm)
- Age range 18 to UP years
- Grade levels 13 - UP
- Reading level 1230
- Category Politics / Current Events
- Library of Congress subjects Dissenters, Conformity
- Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2001035273
- Dewey Decimal Code 303.32
Media reviews
Citations
- Ingram Advance, 04/01/2005, Page 114
- New York Times, 06/19/2005, Page 24
About the author
More Copies for Sale
Letters to a Young Contrarian (Art of Mentoring)
by Christopher Hitchens
- Used
- Good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$3.38A$5.66 Delivery to USA
Show details
Letters to a Young Contrarian (Art of Mentoring (Paperback))
by Hitchens, Christopher
- Used
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 21
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$7.79A$4.25 Delivery to USA
Show details
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Christopher Hitchens
- Used
- as new
- Paperback
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$9.06Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Christopher Hitchens
- Used
- Acceptable
- Paperback
- Condition
- Acceptable
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 3
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$9.06Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Christopher Hitchens
- Used
- Good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 2
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$9.06Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Christopher Hitchens
- Used
- Good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 4
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$9.16Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Christopher Hitchens
- Used
- Very good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Very good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 2
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$9.16Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Hitchens, Christopher
- Used
- Condition
- Used
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$12.28Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Hitchens, Christopher
- Used
- Condition
- Used
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$12.28Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Hitchens, Christopher
- Used
- Condition
- Used
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780465030330 / 0465030335
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$12.28Free Delivery to USA