Mortality
Christopher Hitchens"A jovially combative riposte to anyone who thought that death would silence master controversialist Hitchens (Hitch-22, 2010, etc.)." - Kirkus Reviews
Over the next eighteen months, until his death in Houston on December 15, 2011, he wrote constantly and brilliantly on politics and culture, astonishing readers with his capacity for superior work even in extremis.
In this riveting account of his affliction, Hitchens poignantly describes the torments of illness, discusses its taboos and explores how disease transforms experience and changes our relationship to the world around us. By turns, personal and philosophical, Hitchens embraces the full panoply of human emotions as cancer invades his body and compels him to grapple with the enigma of death.
"Among the many things that made Hitchens unique was his precision of thought and expression. What made him rare were his courage and tenacity. He was fearless in the field and relentless in his defence of the defenceless with that mightiest of swords - his pen. Judging from his final essays, he was also fearless in the fact of death." - Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post
Mortality is the exemplary story of one man's refusal to cower in the face of the unknown, as well as a searching look at the human predicament. Crisp and vivid, veined throughout with penetrating intelligence, Hitchens's testament is a courageous and lucid work of literature.