A few months ago, I found myself within spitting distance of Christopher Hitchens after attending a lecture by him on Thomas Paine. Having, however, now read this review utterly destroying Hitchens’ book about Paine (via Dave), I’m now regretting that I resisted, as crude as this sounds, the urge to spit.

As graceless and liverish as Hitchens was in the question and answer session after the lecture, and as unnecessarily foul-mouthed as he was at the later book signing, at least, or so I thought, his lecture on Paine was worth the entrance fee. Except, now having read the review, I realise that not a word that Hitchens uttered about Paine that night is to be trusted.

At the book signing I bought a copy of Hitchens’ ‘Orwell’s Victory‘, Orwell being a hero of mine (in so far as a 35 year-old man can have heroes, Han Solo notwithstanding), and had him sign it in a pointless attempt to secure a sod of common ground between me and a man I regarded as almost, but not quite, a complete tit.

The spine of the book is as yet unbroken. If Hitchens is half as inaccurate about Orwell as he is about Paine, the book is worthless. Ebay beckons. Any offers?