New atheists: Thoughtful comment on Hitchens memoir from Economist

Now that Christopher “god is not Great” Hitchens is battling cancer, one can only wish him the best in beating off the dreadful disease. One looks for him to become a bit more serious in the aftermath. Here, for example, is a thoughtful comment from an Economist reviewer on his recent memoir, Hitch-22 :

The ardour is not always matched by insight. In particular, the smoke of incinerated straw men obscures any serious discussion of religion (superstition practised by hypocrites, in his view). And for what is meant to be a no-holds-barred memoir, the author goes lightly on some of his failings. Broken ideals get plenty of self-satisfied scrutiny; broken hearts and marriages rate barely a mention. The impression left is of a writer frozen in a precocious teenagery, whose ability to tease and provoke the grown-ups is entertaining but ultimately tiresome. If Mr Hitchens can stay off the booze and do some serious thinking, his real autobiography, in 20 years’ time or so, should be a corker."

One must hope.

Meanwhile, here is part of his recent debate with ID theorist Bill Dembski: