God Is Not Great

Reading these books does one thing for me: It helps me better understand why so many of the 'educated' atheists that were drawn to the New Atheist movement failed to engage with the actual reality of the world around them... and it's because these "horsemen" failed to do so. They fail to engage with history that denies them their point, and they fail to engage with societal and political issues that add nuance to things they discuss.

And while Hitchens did better at it that his compatriots, he still does it quite a lot and to a distracting point.

Rather than rehashing old arguments against common religious beliefs, this work is a systematic take-down of the myth that religion is a net-benefit for society. It's an educational and entertaining read, although Hitchens' can be a touch verbose and his choice of word at times leans esoteric. Depending on the chapter, "God is Not Great" could be a pleasure to read or a slog, but my biggest issue with it is that, while Hitchens didn't limit his critique to abrahamic religions, he stopped short of addressing the underlying issue of magical thinking in any form, not only religion, as a terrible and destructive framework for understanding reality and deciding upon a moral framework with which to engage with the world and others around us. In my opinion, this limits the utility of the work and opens it up to endless debate over historical and doctrinal points. There are some problematic moments, as expected from a prominent member of the "New Atheist" movement, but beyond nothing so egregious that I would recommend against someone reading the book with a skeptical eye.