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Hitch-22 cover art

Hitch-22

By: Christopher Hitchens
Narrated by: Christopher Hitchens
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Summary

In this long-awaited and candid memoir, Hitchens re-traces the footsteps of his life to date, from his childhood in Portsmouth, with his adoring, tragic mother and reserved Naval officer father; to his life in Washington DC, the base from which from he would launch fierce attacks on tyranny of all kinds. Along the way, he recalls the girls, boys and booze; the friendships and the feuds; the grand struggles and lost causes; and the mistakes and misgivings that have characterised his life.

Hitch-22 is, by turns, moving and funny, charming and infuriating, enraging and inspiring. It is an indispensable companion to the life and thought of our pre-eminent political writer.

Narrated by Christopher Hitchens himself shortly before his untimely death, this is a poignant listening experience.

©2011 Christopher Hitchens (P)2011 Audible Ltd

What listeners say about Hitch-22

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Honest but difficult listening

I was always engaged in the unfolding story of C.H. and his family - a very honest and revealing memoir of an interesting life. His was no ordinary life, living in a world where elitism is the norm, the world of private schools and Oxford, rubbing shoulders with influential people. However, you get the feeling that despite inhabiting the 'dreaming spires' he was a decent bloke at heart. I feel bad complaining about the narration of this audiobook as it is done by the author, and who could better that? But his voice rises and falls away over the course of phrases and sentences and I completely lost a lot of it - I found at times I was just about yelling at him to 'speak up'!! Sorry - I'm a fan and have great respect for his writings but C.H. is not a good narrator.

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37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Tour De Force

I lament the ending of this audio master-piece, made superbly personal by the voice of Hitch himself. What a wonderful man, and what a marvellous contribution to call for sanity in a mad and cruel world. Truly one of my hero's. So much better in audio format as well when read by the author. So very personal for the listener. I wish I had known this human being who's self deprecating honesty is a tonic to me, and a rare trait in one so gifted.

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35 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wide ranging, erudite and opinionated

Anyone looking for a biography / memoir of Christopher Hitchens probably has a decent idea what they're in for, so there's little point in dwelling on his opinions and analyses as such.

However the background describing how he came to be were he was is well told, entertaining and at least appears even-handed.

A fair bit of clever wordplay without being too clever for it's own good and, if you're anything like me, it'll have you entertained scuttling down various rabbit holes to follow up references.

The performance / recording is a bit more problematic.

In general terms, he has a great voice, and who better to understand how it should be stressed and delivered than the author?

However within that delivery there are issues; he has a tendency to start off a sentence in a booming and declarative way, but finish in the equivalent of an off-hand or conspiratorial whisper.

This means that in situations where there was any ambient noise - walking the dog for instance - it was impossible to achieve a comfortable volume and the experience degenerated into an exercise in constant swearing, rewinding, adjustment and replaying.

In the end, I gave up attempting to listen in anything other than ideal conditions, and that improved the experience by leaps and bounds. Maybe best listened to and reflected upon in that way anyway.

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

I Really Miss Hitch

This excellent autobiography has now become too complete a work following Hitchens death in November 2011.

Written with wit and I think understated modesty this book shows a reflection of the man I hope existed. Not knowing him one can never be sure.

An excellent read, especially for a biography - a genre which I'm very selective with.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

AKA the death of a radical

If you could sum up Hitch-22 in three words, what would they be?

The life of a great raconteur, journalist and public intellectual as a backdrop for musing on every philosophical and political topic and major event of historical importance imaginable. He name-drops wildly, but not for effect: he really was best friends with Martin Amis, knew Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Gore Vidal. Susan Sontag etc. etc. He charts his beginnings from public school communist to an eventual slide to the right and becoming a non-pacifist and supporter of the war in Iraq, without losing his sense of outrage at the worst aspects of neo-con policies, bigotry, inequality and despotism.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hitch-22?

His accounts of riotously funny lunches with Kingsley Amis, Clive James and Martin Amis et al. Also his stories of life at an English boarding school were an eyeopener. Too many great stories to recount here.

Any additional comments?

My only criticism of the book is that sometimes Hitchens sounds a bit bored with himself whilst reading his autobiography. His voice sometimes trails away and it was sometimes hard to hear what he was saying.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

dull

inaudible mumbling. monotone dull. may be an interesting story but.... ....Not for me thanks

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

A varied memoir on a varied life

I came to Hitch 22 only knowing the late Hitchens from his excellent book 'God is Not Great', and from having watching some of his famous public debates.

The book is neatly divided into two halves, the first deals with Hitch's first 20 years, and so includes his highly privileged school and university life, and his far left political beliefs. He was a Marxist and Troskyist, and even lived in Cuba for a while to help build Castro's new communist country. There's interesting stuff here for sure, and it's told with conviction and honesty. There's plenty of anti-American feeling too, all of it logically justified, which makes the second half of the book all the more confusing.

The second half deals with Hitch's love affair with America, and his shift in politics from the hard left, to the hard right. Following a trip to New York Hitch decides to emigrate to the US where upon he becomes a dreadful apologist and sycophant. It's hard to imagine how the Hitch from the first half of the book, could have transformed into the Hitch from the second half. He lives the high life, dining with the rich and famous, and moves his writing from political UK publications to a US celebrity magazine. To say this makes him appear a sell out, would be an understatement.

Then an even more bizarre change occurs, as Hitch decides to support the invasion of Iraq and so allies himself with George W Bush and Paul Wolfowitz. He defends these two vigorously, bizarrely believing that their invasion is a pure and just action designed solely to topple an evil dictator. Hitch does allow himself a moment of regret when he is confronted by the parents of a dead US soldier, but it doesn't last.

Hitch's parents get a fair chunk of time, and are interesting characters, but his religious Daily Mail columnist brother gets only a tiny mention. Sadly for one so fond of language Hitch's prose is littered with lazy Americanisms and slang, and is very poorly read by Hitch himself.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gone, but never forgotten.

I am that sad individual that has never grown out of the love of being read to. Now at the age of nearly 53 I do it a little different to most, I buy the audio book...and the physical book...WHY? because I can see it, and hear it. What is there that I can say about this audio book? for me the greatest thing is that it is Hitch, read by Hitch, nothing else needs to be said.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Misogynist with Martin Amis

I wish I could return this book & get my credit back. The early chapters on Hitchens’ mother and father were sad and beautiful and I was riveted up until the point he visits a brothel with Martin Amis and describes the prostitute charging him for her services a ‘bitch’. It seems rather peculiar that a Marxist wouldn’t see himself as the exploiter in that situation and display a good deal more human decency. I can’t imagine Hitchens’ hero Orwell either doing or saying anything of the sort. James Fenton sounds like a very bad poet - I’ve now listened to some of his work and such suspicions appear to have basis. Martin Amis and his father Kingsley sound utterly loathsome. Quite how the latter can dismiss Jane Austen when Emma invented the tradition he works in I don’t know but suspect this all comes from woman hating. Females barely feature (aside from his mother) and as a female I’m afraid I get as much pleasure out of all this as being called a ‘bitch’ myself which (luckily) hasn’t happened much.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Life changing

This book should be a cold shower shock to most people who read it. The depiction of a life lived at full speed with a humbling thirst for truth and progressive thought is orated beautifully by the man himself. As this paragraph is meant to be a book review and not an opinion page about the mans politics as some below have cheaply used, I would advise that if you are intrigued by the beginnings and origins of one of the worlds greatest minds and writers, then this is simply unmissable. The combination of integrity and eloquence make this a book I was heartbroken to have reached the end of.

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