The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever

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Hachette Books, Dec 10, 2007 - Religion - 288 pages
Christopher Hitchens's personally curated New York Times bestselling anthology of the most influential and important writings on atheism, including original pieces by Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan
From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of God Is Not Great, a provocative and entertaining guided tour of atheist and agnostic thought through the ages--with never-before-published pieces by Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.Christopher Hitchens continues to make the case for a splendidly godless universe in this first-ever gathering of the influential voices--past and present--that have shaped his side of the current (and raging) God/no-god debate. With Hitchens as your erudite and witty guide, you'll be led through a wealth of philosophy, literature, and scientific inquiry, including generous portions of the words of Lucretius, Benedict de Spinoza, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Mark Twain, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, H. L. Mencken, Albert Einstein, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and many others well-known and lesser known. And they're all set in context and commented upon as only Christopher Hitchens--"political and literary journalist extraordinaire" (Los Angeles Times)--can. Atheist? Believer? Uncertain? No matter: The Portable Atheist will speak to you and engage you every step of the way.
 

Contents

LUCRETIUS from De Rerum Natura On the Nature
1
BENEDICT DE SPINOZA TheologicalPolitical Treatise
21
JAMES BOSWELL An Account of My Last Interview
46
KARL MARX Contribution to the Critique of Hegels
64
CHARLES DARWIN Autobiography
93
ANATOLE FRANCE Miracle
112
MARK TWAIN Thoughts of God From Fables of Man
116
Bible Teaching and Religious Practice From Europe and Elsewhere and A Pen Warmed Up In Hell
119
An Old Story
178
BERTRAND RUSSELL An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish
181
PHILIP LARKIN Aubade
207
Church Going
209
MARTIN GARDNER The Wandering Jew and the Second Coming
211
CARL SAGAN The DemonHaunted World
218
The God Hypothesis
226
JOHN UPDIKE From Rogers Version
239

JOSEPH CONRAD Authors Note to The Shadow Line
123
THOMAS HARDY Gods Funeral
126
EMMA GOLDMAN The Philosophy of Atheism
129
H P LOVECRAFT A Letter on Religion
134
CARL VAN DOREN Why I Am An Unbeliever
138
H L MENCKEN Memorial Service
143
SIGMUND FREUD From The Future of an Illusion Translated and edited by James Strachey
147
ALBERT EINSTEIN Selected Writings on Religion
155
GEORGE ORWELL From A Clergymans Daughter
166
JOHN BETJEMAN In Westminster Abbey
168
CHAPMAN COHEN Monism and Religion
170
Arguments for and against the Existence of God
246
A Scientific Creation Story
267
A Personal Word
282
the Failed Hypothesis
311
DANIEL C DENNETT A Working Definition
328
PENN JILLETTE There Is No God
349
STEVEN WEINBERG What About God?
366
SAM HARRIS In the Shadow of God
454
A C GRAYLING Can an Athiest Be a Fundamentalist?
473
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About the author (2007)

Christopher Hitchens was a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a visiting professor of liberal studies at the New School. He is the author of numerous books, including works on Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, George Orwell, Mother Teresa, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Henry Kissinger, and his #1 New York Times bestseller and National Book Award nominee, God Is Not Great.

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