The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer » (1st Edition)

Chistopher Hitchens is a widely published polemicist and frequent radio and TV commentator. He is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a visiting professor of liberal studies at the New School in New York.

The acclaimed journalist and bestselling author of "God Is Not Great" selects and introduces an illuminating collection of the most essential and influential writings for the non-believer. Includes selections from Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Bertrand Russell, Thomas Jefferson, H.L.Mencken, Sam Harris, and others. Unabridged.

Publishers Weekly

Interconnecting a vast range of sources from Lucretius to more contemporary authors, Hitchens brings together a mix of naysayers and skeptics regarding religion and, in particular, God. While not all of his selections are by fervent atheists, Hitchens connects them in such a way as to explore how and why people have rejected religious beliefs throughout the ages. Additionally, he provides valuable introductions to many of the pieces, situating them for the listener in the context of his overall argument. While some provide great insight and questions for listeners, others are only tangentially relevant. Nicholas Ball has an agreeable voice, but when transitioning from introductions to the excerpt, he rarely pauses and listeners may not even realize the excerpt is being read. His timing and speed may work well with other material, but lacks the reflection and nuance needed for this diverse and complex work with many different writing styles. Simultaneous release with the Da Capo hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 29). (Jan.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments     xi
Introduction   Christopher Hitchens     xiii
from De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), Book I, Translated by W. Hannaford Brown     1
from Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: A Paraphrase from Several Literal Translations by Richard Le Gallienne     7
Of Religion, from Leviathan     12
Theological-Political Treatise     21
The Natural History of Religion     26
Of Miracles     32
An Account of My Last Interview with David Hume, Esq.     46
A Refutation of Deism     50
Moral Influences in My Early Youth, From Autobiography     57
Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right     64
Evangelical Teaching     75
Autobiography     93
An Agnostic's Apology     97
Miracle     112
Thoughts of God, From Fables of Man     116
Bible Teaching and Religious Practice, From Europe and Elsewhere and A Pen Warmed Up In Hell     119
Author's Note to The Shadow Line     123
God's Funeral     126
The Philosophy of Atheism     129
A Letter on Religion     134
Why I Am An Unbeliever     138
Memorial Service     143
from The Future of an Illusion, Translated and edited by James Strachey     147
Selected Writings on Religion     155
from A Clergyman's Daughter     166
In Westminster Abbey     168
Monism and Religion     170
An Old Story     178
An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish     181
Aubade     207
Church Going     209
The Wandering Jew and the Second Coming     211
The Demon-Haunted World 218
The God Hypothesis     226
from Roger's Version     239
Conclusions and Implications, From The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God     246
Genesis Revisited: A Scientific Creation Story     267
That Undiscovered Country     270
Thank Goodness!     277
from A Farewell to God, A Personal Word     282
Questions to Ask Yourself     285
Why There Almost Certainly Is No God     287
Gerin Oil     305
Atheists for Jesus     307
from God: the Failed Hypothesis, Cosmic Evidence 311
A Working Definition of Religion, From "Breaking Which Spell?"     328
If God Is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?     333
There Is No God      349
End of the World Blues     351
What About God? From Dreams of a Final Theory     366
"Imagine There's No Heaven": A Letter to the Six Billionth World Citizen     380
The Koran     384
The Totalitarian Nature of Islam     445
In the Shadow of God, From The End of Faith     454
Can an Athiest Be a Fundamentalist? From Against All Gods     473
How (and Why) I Became an Infidel     477
Credits and Permissions     481
Index     485