Christopher Hitchens' House 

The most elegant iteration of Cribs ever.

In my opinion, the most eloquent orator to have ever walked the planet. His ideas and opinions were unsurpassed as well as his intellect. I miss the gorgeous bastard, Hitch’s legacy ensures his immortality. 💐

The ability to read is true liberty and opens doors that you've before thought would've existed.

I wish wish wish I could read faster and take in more information... I would love to have read all the books that Hitchens has and taken on their message. Knowledge is so important, and I want more of it. Get well soon HItchens!

I like what he said about his career just being his life because that's all he was ever good at. I find that inspiring.

Did anyone c this below... Further adds to my love of Hitch, "I've learned from other interviews that Hitch delighted in mostly 80's Cock Rock (a top 5 reads White Lion, Trixster, Dokken, Flotsam Jetsam & Sebastian Bach's solo stuff). For writing, he preferred Speed Metal. He DIDN'T like anything that has to do w/ the 'Southern Rock,' genre, Pink Floyd or Anita Baker."

i never knew he didnt like some wodehouse books. Its wonder-full to get some of his insight on his influences and favorite writers. such an amazing individual, thanks for sharing, take care.

I fucking fucking fucking miss you!

What's the instrumental music played in the last part along with all the list?

Wow, all those books! He's probably read them all, too! I've only read about 10 books in my life, haha: )

Oooooh...what a fantasy - a HUGE room, lined with books. I'm swooning!

Fantastic insight into the day to day life of an incredible mind

Yep, he also mentioned on that same show that he was in the phone book, when someone complained that she could never get a hold of him.

Love to see all those books up close.

The Four Horseman talk was shot there. Every time I see videos of him in his own place it brings me to that.

Whenever I see the Clint Eastwood film Absolute Power is on I always record it so i can watch the bit where he walks into Hitch's apartment and you see the massive bookshelves!

Hes contributed to the current movement of freeing peoples minds and has brought awareness to the horrors & injustices brought on by religion, its no small task.

is there anywhere to view or read the full interview that you so teasingly mention in your description? thanks

He seemed to be so happy there, it's a shame he's gone!

How I just miss you again and again Christopher.

If someone would please identify the composer and song title of the classical piece that starts at around 6:30, then I will fucking love you.

I miss him immensely....

@HouseHaunter484 What are you talking about? I would have said that he has an excellent taste in books. Particularily those by Salman Rushdie and George Orwell.

He won me when I heard Christopher reads Wodehouse. Friends for life now!

Wilde and Poe and company can definitely rival his elloquence, but I'm not sure about Twain and Chekov. They are better fiction writers, but it all comes down to virtuosity which is what I was talking about. His level of elloquence is unparallel. And as for GINT, I agree it's far from being a brilliant read. But again... The eloquence and the poetic style in which he can write his prose is out of this world. I've been writing papers for years now and I can't even come close to expressing...

Haha... I love his Idea of a "day in the life." That sounds like such a good day! (I force myself to eat oatmeal, too).

Glad to be of service good sir.

Thanks for posting this!

Thanks very much for posting this

Interesting to hear him say his profession as a writer chose him, as though to say there was some external force imposed on him. Was it the devil or God, or maybe some unknown "will" of the cosmos?

solid library he's got there

Actually, in another interview I herd him say that he was in the phone book and said he had nothing to hide. People aren't as crazy as you think.

I can think of no one I had rather hang out with for a day more than Christopher Hitchens.

outro song?

more like Christopher Hitchens bookcase and the view from his window! we didn't actually see much of the house at all.

@lebannerfan65 Your logic is faulty. If God exists, it does not logically follow that one cannot enjoy Bach's music or any other religiously inspired music, such as Handel's "Messiah". Liking religiously oriented music has no bearing on whether or not God exists. All I said was that Bach himself (in the 1700s) made it very clear that he composed his music "for the glory of God". Thus, atheists who like Bach is no different than atheists who like to read the Bible. It's called hypocrisy.

Many thanks for uploading.

The comma is misplaced in this video's title.

Sweetest episode of Cribs ever.

This is his life, he has a memory which he uses to teach. How many books has he digested?

I did answer your question. But I won't acknowledge the 2nd part because I'm not conceding that my faith is in a fantasy.

He's a Dylan fan, sees him as America's main poet. There's an article in Love, War and Poverty on this. He also regards Mozart as in the league of Eliot (George), Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Joyce and Rushdie as one whose work appears not written by human beings. In terms of popular music 70s to present, who knows?

He mentions Dylan and Bach in Hitch-22. There's also a video on youtube of him talking about Phil Ochs.

I'm with you on that. I read both of them for many years and I don't disagree. The thing that interests me though is the writing skill itself-- not the quality of the writing. And Hitchens is too good.

anyone know the music at the end?

Does anybody know if he had a T.V. in his house? I think maybe there is one at 1:04 but i'm not sure.

Does anybody know the music at the end?

the hitchens autobiography - cannot wait!

@peshayuk An atheist who listens to Bach is no different than an atheist who listens to Christian rock or an atheist who likes to read the Bible. It is oxymoronic.

wot in the hell is that music at the end?

Whole of the top floor? Please confirm.

@friendofthefunk yeah I realized the error in my reasoning, I suppose I was looking at it as if Hitchens' purpose is to make money, not to be influential. I also assumed that being successful "X" would need to imply the growth and abundance of "X", which you have shown is often not the case. so my bad, not a paradox at all, if anything it's just a balance between valuing being influential and valuing making money. Of course religion will never become extinct... so THAT doesn't even matter.

Emerson's essays are completely related to his oratory. He never actually published any piece of writing. All of his works are adaptations of his public speakings.

Why? He has a nice flat in a nice area and he appreciates the history and aesthetics of it all. He is extremely well read on the subjects that he talks about and has the balls to publicly stand against anyone he disagrees with; all this with humour and eloquence. Where is the pretention? Where is the undeserved appearance of importance?

God is not great, but Hitchens certainly was.

Why are people trying to correct the grammar of the title? It's correct and Hitchens is pluralized properly.

"I'm not gonna buy a pencil from your cup" hitch was the best at intellectual put downs

"so when did i say anything was absolutely wrong?" - "child molestation is wrong", "not only do i acknowledge those acts are wrong.... i would also add that genocide and slavery are wrong" - Love the self-refutation.

...what I want to in the same way that he does; and that's after a LONG time of practice. What does that say?

@BachScholar "had there been no God there would be no Bach" There is no God and I am enjoying some of Bach's aural tapestries right now. How does that add up?

Hit thoughts on writing an literature are identical to my own.

Excellent

I hope Hitchens is doing okay with his recent illness.

Japanese "Godzilla" movies aren't even THAT off on the audio sync!

At the risk of sounding INCREDIBLY pompous, I found it very reassuring to hear Hitchens, a great artist - if you'll allow me to demote "writer" to "artist" :) - name only relatively well-known writers as influences. (I can confidently call them well-known because I've heard of them all.) Quality, not quantity, kids.

Fucking fantastic. Thank you.

I lived 2 blocks away from Hitchens and never knew it

Given the number of enemies Mr. Hitchens seems to have made, all this exposure of his home makes me nervous for him. Surely anyone could deduce which apartment is his! Badass "crib" though, and a good man.

Who says there isn't a mini bar?

V Interesting Thanks for uploading

Never thought id hear Hitch refer to his residential area as his "hood".

i want to know what kind of music he enjoys. :

Well said!

Wonder if he would like KISS or Bon Jovi or Aerosmith?

He has yet to influence his field in the same way Mozart did with music; but that's an inappropriate standard. Writing and music are toallt different, and their influence over societies and the overall human condition are different. On technical grounds, though, I don't see a reason for why he can't be considered the Mozart of writing. He is by far the most eloquent and articulated writer humanity has even seen. Not necessaarily in terms of writing revolutionary ideas, but in the sense that..

HE SAID "HOOD"!! Thats awesome! hahaha

The thing is he does not disparage primates, but he shows by example how, by using our brains, even though they may have too small a frontal lobe etc, we can think our way out of being religious and overcome our limitations. I think he is such a great example of how cool it is to be well read and a good talker. I hope young people see it's fun to be knowledgeable and clever. Smart and fluent is cool now. Stand up for primates and our potential !

@Jack72824 sad that he and G Vidal couldn't remain friends too

I am in awe of this guy. Even though Im an atheist I really could be persuaded to think he was the true god.

Better writers than him? He may believe this is true, but this is straying far off from what the reality is. He may not be a good philosopher or a scientist; but in terms of writing and polemics he is prolly the most talented one we have seen in out lifetime, or even greater than the old trailblazers that came centureis before him. How can you possibly top him in terms of writing? The level which he possesses is beyond anything anyone of us is capable of acquiring.

Thats the largest bookshelf I've ever scene besides a library.

Hitchens: Perhaps the greatest person of our age. My only question, is how does a king keep his sanity, living among primates?

What a man.

he is clearly just a dude who loves what he does

@BachScholar Aristotle said "its the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain an idea without accepting it". I don't believe Apollo exists but I still like classical stuff. Of course an atheist can listen to Bach!

interesting. good clip.

@Itbelial Hitchens has never really struck me as a pedant. And, oddly, I never even really considered someone like William Buckley to be pedantic, although he certainly has the veneer of one. A pedant for me would be someone like Allan Bloom or Keith Olbermann. I think there is surface level pedantry and then there is the deep seated kind. A lot of people look it on the surface who aren't really that way at their core.

hes humble

For all things agricultural I must defer to the 1965 film: "Agent 077: From the Orient with Fury."

Can't wait to see him on MTV Cribs

"aren't Christians supposed to believe in forgiveness and that Christians sin on a regular basis, which is why they need the forgiveness in the first place? " Partly true,but they also believe that you don't even have to do anything to be sinful,cause grand-grand-grand-grand (repeat a few hundred more times) father and mother of every human messed up in the garden of Eden 7 thousands year ago. Or some weird stuff like that.

That's a heluva bookcase.

The cause Hitchens stands for, I believe, has much more far-reaching consequences than the efforts of Carter or Goodall. Hitchens is directly affecting a paradigm shift - touching on ideas that should have been the default from the start. His brand of deconstructionism represents the next level of evolution.

@AndrewDewittBaker I've learned from other interviews that Hitch delights in mostly 80's Cock Rock (a top 5 reads White Lion, Trixster, Dokken, Flotsam Jetsam & Sebastian Bach's solo stuff) & also for writing, anything Speed Metal. He DOESN'T like anything that has to do w/ the 'Southern Rock,' genre, Pink Floyd or Anita Baker. Hope this helps

@shazzbot007 its awesome isnt it? Even drunk he can easily toss around theists. Theres an almonst grandfatherly charm about the way he does it lol

i think he's hard-wired in a literary sense yet hopeless with numbers. i'm the opposite, but i'd trade it any day!

You think?

his library is fucking huge.

He's already been dealing with death threats for years.

Still your god does nothing to stop it even tho he is "all mighty". Either he doesn't care which makes him a sadist or he does care but can't stop it which makes him powerless.