This week, I finished two books by some amazing authors. The first book on the list is about how Christopher Hitchens can save the left, and it was surprisingly good. Then, there’s a book by Ryan Holiday that I decided to give another read. Enjoy!
Each of the links to the books are affiliate links, so if you use my link to purchase any of these books, some comes back to support what I do (and it also helps fund my reading habit).
How Hitchens Can Save the Left: Rediscovering Fearless Liberalism in an Age of Counter-Enlightenment by Matt Johnson
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I have quite a few criticisms of the book, but I’ll start off with the good. I’ve been trying to read more Hitchens because I only recently started learning about him and his work. So, when I saw this new book was released, I kind of sighed but decided to read it anyways. I sighed because I thought, “Oh great, another anti-woke book.” It had it’s parts, but I’m really pleased with this book because I typically hate biographies, but Matt Johnson wrote this in a way that really kept my attention.
The book is sort of a biography while also covering a wide range of topics that Hitchens was passionate about. What I enjoyed about the book is that it had some stories about Hitchens but also broke down his ideas and what people got right and wrong about him. I’m regularly looking for authors who write books just explaining the ideas of great thinkers, and this book was one of the only ones that actually did that.
My criticisms are purely subjective, but the book is kind of like a book written by the ultimate fanboy. The author loves Hitchens and knows everything Hitchens ever wrote and stood for inside and out. At no point in the book do I remember the author ever pushing back on anything Hitchens ever did, and I’m a firm believer that a book should somewhat argue with itself and come up with rebuttals. But from start to finish, this book was basically saying, “Everything Hitchens did was amazing. Anyone who disagreed with him is wrong. Hitchens was the perfect human being.”
I understand the book is about how Hitchens can save the left, but I would have really enjoyed more stuff about Hitchens debating religion. As the book suggests, it primarily discusses Hitchens’ issues with the left. The anti-woke stuff was early in the book, and it wasn’t too heavy. I really liked learning about Hitchens’ ideas about war and imperialism. I’m not sure if I necessarily agree with all of his takes, but it definitely gave me some things to think about.
Overall, this is a really good book if you want to learn more about Hitchens. I will say that the foreign policy stuff took up more of the book than I would have liked, but it was a great book nonetheless.
Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holiday
I’ve been pretty disappointed with Ryan Holiday’s recent books. They’re all just kind of the same old thing over and over and over. But, as I write my new book, I remember really liking this one, so I gave it another read. Unlike his other books, this one definitely holds up, and I still really enjoy it. Many of his other books are just filled with cherry-picked stories and then him saying, “See! You can do this too!” Perennial Seller has a lot more actionable advice that’s hard to argue with. It covers everything from the writing process to marketing the book and much more.
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I know what you mean about Ryan Holiday. He has had maybe 2 great books that he's parlayed into 20.
I like this idea, of a regular nonfiction list. That's all I read these days, and I don't see too many consolidations of recommended reads. That can really provide value for some people, especially if they connect with your niche/style.