Discussion #31: Hitch-22: A Memoir, by Christopher Hitchens

Welcome to Citizen Scholar! Since launching six months ago we&#8217;re reaching folks all over the world, so we thank you for your support. If you enjoy our writing on civic virtue and individual excellence, we humbly ask you to share Citizen Scholar with your family members and friends who may enjoy it. The contents of the audio and text formats are identical and meant to accommodate your preferences. Please let us know if you have any feedback - we&#8217;re always looking for ways to improve!<br/><br/>Introduction<br/><br/>As we complete our mini-series on notable memoirs, we&#8217;ll be discussing Hitch-22, by Christopher Hitchens. The celebrated journalist, author, literary critic and polemicist realized it might be time to set down his own record of life after being shocked by a premature printing of his death in a 2008 magazine issue. This turned out to be fortunate timing. Hitch-22 was released in May 2010. While promoting the book the following month, Hitchens fell very ill and sought medical help. He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which had metastasized and took his life in December 2011.<br/><br/>The study of this great scribbler&#8217;s life matters to the mission of Citizen Scholar. Hitchens was one of the foremost journalists and public intellectuals of his time. While he still has many fans, most of them over the age of thirty, both Hitchens fans and Hitchens detractors can agree on three key points:<br/><br/>Many of his ideas were very controversial<br/><br/>He seemed to purposely gravitate toward controversial topics<br/><br/>He was an exceptional writer and rhetorician<br/><br/>A Writer&#8217;s Life<br/><br/>Hitchens recounts his story in three main spheres &#8211; the literary, the political and the personal. These are all woven together by the major events he lived through, especially those of the three great milestone years in his life &#8211; 1968, 1989 and 2001. In 1968, Hitchens was a Troskyist student-radical at Oxford University protesting the Vietnam War and the Soviet invasion of