PEN Festival Panel Gives Hitchens Mixed Grades

May 2, 2012

Arts Beat / New York Times


The PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature kicked off Monday night with a panel discussion about the life and work of Christopher Hitchens. Billed as a “tribute” to the writer, the promotional materials for the event said it would engage with this question, among others: “Did the man and his methods overshadow his ideas?”

Read more http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/pen-festival-panel-gives-christopher-hitchens-mixed-grades/

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Katha Pollit is a mediocre monotone writer who--oh the irony--would not have her gig if she didn't have a vagina. A seed catalog is more inspiring than her stupifying output.

She's hated CH ever since he spoke truth to power, and left the Nationistas (like her) in his dust. His F-U to the typical Nation reader was priceless.

Career wise, it was the best thing he ever did

She must be extremely jealous.

Whoever invited a non-entity like her to the panel should have his/her head examined. Not that it matters. Nobody give a crap what she thinks.

Anonymous said...

"Feminist author Camille Paglia described Pollitt as a "whiny troll, an unscrupulous and unreliable critic and a cultural philistine...She's a good example of the phony prep-school/trust-fund leftism suffusing the incestuously interwined Ivy League cliques who run the corrupt East Coast literary and magazine establishment"

Pretty much sums it up. Very fitting that a person like Pollitt would trash the Hitch.

Anonymous said...

agree anf enjoyed your comment

fuckthetaliban said...

i'm glad there are some hitchens fans who see the truth and aren't just atheist fanboys who want to keep hitchens for themselves and rigidly define him within their nation mindset. I'm glad not everyone feels the way Salman Rushdie did/does claiming the real hitch was the one who said all the liberal things he/they agree with. Kudos to anonymous 1, kudos to anonymous 2 and kudos to christopher hitchens. You will be remembered and not just by liberals either!!!:)

Anonymous said...

Is this on youtube? Please post a link.

Anonymous said...

I really hope there is video of this! Please post any links!

“Did the man and his methods overshadow his ideas?”

This is a very good question to ask. I've wondered the same thing myself as of late.

Anonymous, could you link me to that F-U to Nation fans? I'd love to read it.

Anonymous said...

Money Quote:

This is something more than a disagreement of emphasis or tactics. When I began work for The Nation over two decades ago, Victor Navasky described the magazine as a debating ground between liberals and radicals, which was, I thought, well judged. In the past few weeks, though, I have come to realize that the magazine itself takes a side in this argument, and is becoming the voice and the echo chamber of those who truly believe that John Ashcroft is a greater menace than Osama bin Laden. (I too am resolutely opposed to secret imprisonment and terror-hysteria, but not in the same way as I am opposed to those who initiated the aggression, and who are planning future ones.) In these circumstances it seems to me false to continue the association, which is why I have decided to make this "Minority Report" my last one.

Check out "Taking Sides" in the Oct 14 2002 Nation.

Anonymous said...

What a ridiculous empty-headed loon. Who the heck invited her?

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Summer Hawking said...

I wish I attended this literary event. Besides seeing experts sharing their skills and talents on stage, I like receiving those personalised pens for a souvenir. It's adorable and of course, functional.

 
 
 

Christopher reads from Hitch-22: A Memoir