The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever

by Thomas Hardy, Michael Shermer, Carl van Doren, et al.

Book Overview

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,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306816083
• ISBN13: 9780306816086
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Da Capo
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Strong Collection!

I was a tad bit skeptical about purchasing this product, but now that I have read a big portion of it, it really is a great collection. While yes many of the articles and excerpts can be easily found for free on the internet, the convenience of it all in one place, plus the lesser know authors AND the extremely good introduction by Hitchens makes this a product worth purchasing.

The best anthology of atheism I've come across

The Portable Atheist, edited by Christopher Hitchens, is a great selection of how atheism has transformed into what it is today. Hitchens' introduction itself is an astounding tour de force that should not be skipped. In his introduction alone, Hitchen's lays out the foundation and positive attributes of atheism. This is crucial as many people have the common misunderstanding that atheists are pessimists or discontented. He also makes the genuinely important point that in order to believe in one of the three major monotheisms, you have to believe that the heavens watched our species for at least one hundred and fifty thousand years with "indifference, and then- and only in the last six thousand years at the very least - decided that it was time to intervene as well as redeem." He concedes that it is preposterous to believe such a heinous thing - for it would be cruel if true. His introduction is intelligent, convincing and witty - and it doesn't stop there. The selections in this book show the evolution of atheism (or at least nontheism) from early critics of religion such as: Benedict De Spinoza, Thomas Hobbes and David Hume to more of a middle stage (Darwin, George Eliot, Mark Twain and Bertrand Russell) and then to modern-day critics like: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Steven Weinberg, Daniel Dennett, Carl Sagan, Victor Stenger, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and many more. Another great thing is the book is helpfully arranged in chronological order. All beliefs aside, the selections in this book are powerfully argued and well written. I'd recommend it to anyone with a hunger for the truth and an open mind.