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Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer: Essential Readings for the Non-believer

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Author: Christopher Hitchens
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł10.99~~
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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

6 reviews
Sales Rank: 1037

Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Da Capo Press Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 528
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.7

ISBN: 0306816083
Dewey Decimal Number: 211.8
EAN: 9780306816086
ASIN: 0306816083

Publication Date: November 15, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book sourced directly from the publisher. Delivery in 3-5 days. Customer service 7 days per week

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Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful selection of Atheist, Agnostic and Rationalist writing from across the ages. May 25, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This book is perhaps slightly undersold by it's title, it's a pretty solid tome, still portable I suppose but it must be a good 2 or 3 inches thick. The second part of the title is also a little misleading, the majority of the authors are indeed atheists, but not limited to the more militant kind one might expect Hitchens to choose. There's a broad spectrum of Humanist, Secularist and Rationalist writing spanning from Lucretius and Spinoza to Ibn Warraq and Sam Harris. The book progresses through these in a roughly chronological order charting the way human thought on the divine (or lack thereof) has changed and progressed.

The readings are well chosen and Hitchens provides a little introduction and context to each section (if I had one minor complaint it would be that these intros could have been even longer, they were fascinating in their own right). He also provides an overall intro to the book as a whole.

If I was to direct someone, atheist or theist, to a single book to explain non-theistic world views to them, it would have to be this.

5 out of 5 stars

Nourishment for the mind March 11, 2008
22 out of 24 found this review helpful

An absolutely dazzling work. As a recovering Christian I am actively seeking out the thoughts of the great secularists down through the ages.
Particular highlights for me were the writings of Mark Twain on the Church's position on slavery, and also a remarkable deconstruction of every Christian argument regarding morality and God by Elizabet Anderson. Its one of those books that I'd love my wife and my Christian friends to read. Sadly, the bubble of false consolation and cognitive bias appears overwhelmingly strong. My experience tells me that the only evidence that Christians can cope with is Christian evidence. A truly impartial assesment of the available evidence from both sides seems a pose a real challenge to them.

4 out of 5 stars

A vital purchase February 13, 2008
26 out of 30 found this review helpful

Here's a book that will expand your mind. And how could it not? Look at the contributors it boasts: Einstein, Darwin, Orwell, Larkin, Twain, McEwan, Rushdie, Hume, Shelley, Russell, Dawkins and many more. Plus you get a main introduction and author introductions from the erudite and savagely witty Hitchens.
A word of warning: the first 100 pages are a bit sticky to wade through. This is because the book's essays are arranged in chronological order so we start with some ancient texts where the English is very heavy and dozens of commas adorn each sentence. There are some wonderful points made of course, but extreme concentration is required to pick them all up.
Things brighten after that and the book becomes highly readable. The majority of the essays are informative, stimulating and beautifully written. Highlights for me included Dawkins (as ever), who once again comes over as the world's best science writer, Larkin's stirring poem Aubade, AC Grayling's succinct essay, Can An Atheist Be A Fundamentalist?, and Ibn Warraq's brilliant dismantling of Islamic beliefs. If only Muslims would read it - but if they did they'd likely just throw it on the nearest fire.
We have much work to do. It may be a thousand years before the awfulness of religion is eradicated from the world, but books like this help: they perpetuate the `drip-down' effect. In the West we were well on the way to eradicating it before several million Muslims came to live here. Personally I doubt that nothing but a devastating clash of civilizations can be the result (we have of course already seen such clashes). Reading this book underlined my belief that this will be the case.
In conclusion, this book is highly recommended. If you only buy one atheist book buy this one (although The God Delusion is also fantastic). In the end you must decide which version of man's evolution and the planet's creation you believe: the views of thousands of the world's greatest ever minds of the past few hundred years; or words written a long, long time ago by people who thought the earth was flat and that the sun went round it, as passed on to them by other people who could not read or write and had not travelled, in their whole lives, more than a few miles from their primitive, parochial townships. I know who I'd prefer to believe.
PS On reflection I'd give this five stars but Amazon don't appear to allow you to edit star ratings.

4 out of 5 stars

Excellent February 10, 2008
35 out of 38 found this review helpful

The choice of writings contained within this anthology is wide and varied, and endlessly fascinating and intellectually stimulating. There is enough ammunition contained within its covers to keep the active atheist on the offensive through many a debate.

An interesting feature for me is just how many times in this volume I have come across paragraphs, just sentences even, that by themselves fatally undermine the entire 'logic' of organised religion. Example: the quote from Mill regarding the monstrous cruelty (and thus laughable improbability) of a supposedly merciful and loving supreme being who plainly (according to the good books, damned in their own words as ever) creates beings by his own hand solely to condemn them to hell fire and damnation. Do what? My other favourite is Ian MacEwan's comments on curiousity being one of the definitions of human freedom of thought, and how organised religions fear almost nothing more - see St Augustine on that one. It's true: the Western religions live in terror of truly free thought, yet without it the human race would still be living in caves. Humanity has advanced to attain astonishing levels of scientific knowledge, yet for centuries it has been a continual fight to achieve it against the squeals of thwarted God-botherers.

Outstanding.

4 out of 5 stars

Excellent January 18, 2008
27 out of 27 found this review helpful

I found this interesting in that it provides a potted history of atheistic philosophy which could be useful to anyone introduced to the subject more recently (perhaps by Dawkins or Dennet). Some of the historical material can be a little hard to read (especially on a packed train) but I found it fascinating to see how the arguments against religion have developed over time. Ayaan Hirsi Ali's story is truly inspiring and is a fitting conclusion to the book. Hitchens' introductions to each chapter are fitting, and often show just how important the individual writers ideas are to the him. Highly recommended.