Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 528 pages
- Published by: Da Capo Press November 5, 2007
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0306816083
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0306816086
-
Book Dimensions:
9.1 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
- Weighs: 1.5 pounds
From 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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
From AudioFile
In books such as GOD IS NOT GREAT, the militant anti-religionist Hitchins bangs his drum so loudly that he gives even us fellow atheists a headache. Here, happily, he has compiled an extensive and thought-provoking anthology of skeptical literature, modern and ancient, from the likes of Lucretius, Omar Khayyˆ°m, Spinoza, Hume, Darwin, Mark Twain, Marx, and Rushdie, to name a few. He begins with an overlong introduction, rehearsing his own complaints against organized religion and faith, then proceeds more succinctly to introduce each selection. Narrator Nicholas Ball gives an Apollonian reading in a mellifluous, resonant baritone. His mannerisms, though pretty, often unusual meaning. He delivers the words accurately and obeys the punctuation without expressing the relationship of the thoughts expressed with one another, or even making the individual thoughts coherent. Y.R. 128/130 © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Reader ReviewsChristopher "Hitch" Hitchens is the literate jackanapes of the New Atheism, an unofficial affiliation that includes Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett, Sam Harris, A.C. Grayling, Victor Stenger, PZ Myers, and others. Hitch once quipped that Dawkins had been invited, along with him, to present atheism so that the audience could also get a more moderate view of the position. (If you don't know why that's funny, read Dawkins's "The God Delusion," which is uncompromisingly immoderate.) Hitch's book, "god is Not Great" cemented his reputation as the Sweeney Todd of antitheism, for whom words are razors and arrogant ignorance is the prey. This was the guy, after all, who several years ago wrote a slashing diatribe against Mother Teresa. The introduction that Hitchens writes for this volume is just excellent. Funny, barbed, witty...a real showcase of his rhetorical skill. And the selections made for this book are uniformly excellent. It's easy to quibble that this should have been included or that could have been left out, but on the whole, this volume represents a compendium of some of the best literature in atheology. From Hume to Penn Jillette, Hobbes to Salman Rushdie, some of the most brilliant, sharpest criticisms of the notion of gods and the practices of religion are represented. I know too many believers to think that something as mere as reading a great many genius writers making mountains of sense could change their minds; but certainly this tome presents a substantial challenge to easy assumptions, and a buffet banquet for thought. It is a tribute to this book that it winds up on the favorites lists of several bloggers, including one who defines himself as a "secular Catholic Buddhist": http://salvadore-incognito.blogspot.com/
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