Hitch’s Rolls-Royce mind is still purring

The great polemicist is certain to be remembered, but perhaps not as he would like.
By George Eaton

"Nothing concentrates the mind more than reading about oneself in the past tense", quipped Christopher Hitchens on discovering that his death had been prematurely announced by the National Portrait Galler. A catalogue previewing an exhibition entitled "Martin Amis and Friends" had included a photograph of the polemicist, erroneously captioned, "the late Christopher Hitchens". A month later, he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer, lending his words a haunting new resonance.

Read more (New Statesman)

The Quotable Hitchens reviewed in New Statesman

The Quotable Hitchens - from Alcohol to Zionism: the Very Best of Christopher Hitchens
Edited by Windsor Mann

"It often seems as if Christopher Hitchens has spent his life writing and speaking with a collection such as this in mind. His essays, reviews, lectures and TV appearances are distinguished by a permanent war against what Diderot called l'esprit de l'escalier, the moment when, as you leave the television studio or debating hall, the brilliant riposte you should have made a minute earlier occurs to you."

Full Review (newstatesman.com)