Letters to a Young Contrarian - Paperback

by Christopher Hitchens (Author)

From bestselling author and provocateur Christopher Hitchens, the classic guide to the art of principled dissent and disagreement.

"Hitchens is, first and last, a writer, an always exciting, often exacting, furious polemicist." -The Boston Globe

In Letters to a Young Contrarian, Christopher Hitchens inspires the radicals, gadflies, mavericks, rebels, and angry young people of tomorrow. Exploring the entire range of "contrary positions"--from noble dissident to gratuitous nag--Hitchens introduces the next generation to the minds and the misfits who influenced him, invoking such mentors as Emile Zola, Rosa Parks, and George Orwell.

As is his trademark, Hitchens pointedly pitches himself in contrast to stagnant attitudes across the ideological spectrum. No other writer has matched Hitchens's understanding of the importance of disagreement--to personal integrity, to informed discussion, to true progress, to democracy itself.

Author Biography

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) was a prolific author, columnist, editor, and book critic, writing on issues ranging from politics, to religion, to the nature of debate itself. Hitchens' 2007 manifesto God Is Not Great was a #1 New York Times bestseller and National Book Award nominee. His other New York Times bestsellers include Hitch 22, Arguably, and Mortality.