The writer Christopher Hitchens is smarmy and gross. He calls Gore Vidal a “crackpot,” which might be true, but glass houses and such, AMIRIGHT? It takes much to get Hitchens on our radar these does, mostly because he now says things just to get on people’s radar, but the revelation in his new auto-bio Hitch-22 that he got all gay with a couple men who would become members of Margaret Thatcher’s government has us intrigued.
His wife and daughters must be thrilled with the newly published revelations, eh?
In his memoirs, an extract from which appears in today’s Sunday Times News Review, he describes his first gay fumblings while at the Leys school in Cambridge.
He says he had two personae at Oxford: “Chris”, the agitator in a donkey jacket, and “Christopher”, the intellectual. “Every now and then,” he writes, “even though I was by then fixed on the pursuit of young women, a mild and mildly enjoyable relapse would occur and I suppose that I can ‘claim’ this … of two young men who later became members of Margaret Thatcher’s government.
“For this very reason I can’t really give any more names.”
Michael Dobbs, author of House of Cards and an Oxford contemporary who became Tory chief of staff, said: “The idea of him seducing Tory cabinet ministers is rather intriguing. Nowadays I do not know if it would help or undermine the Tories’ election effort.”
Sexual experimentation: 1. Margaret Thatcher: 0.
TheAwfulTruth
he is a rabid atheist, a lunatic.
REBELComx
@TheAwfulTruth: There’s nothing wrong with being an atheist. Hitchens is not one, however. He is an anti-theist. Hence the rabidness.
David Ehrenstein
I’m sure the names of the unlucky pair who fucked the Trotskyite closet queen will surface shortly.
Sounds like a chapter Alan Hollinghurst left out of “The Line of Beauty.”
Larry
@David Ehrenstein: I wouldn’t call him a closet queen… He’s basically straight, but he obviously has a little bit of gay in him, and he’s not afraid to say so. He’s mentioned same-sex experimentation earlier in his life before, also.
David Ehrenstein
He went to college with Bill Clinton and the both dated the same girl. Not sure if this was serially or they were “pulling train.” In any event this was the source of his roiling hatred of Bill Clinton.
Could it be he got a gander at “Little Elvis”?
In any event The Woman in The Case became a lesbian feminist. And no wonder.
benlayvey
@David Ehrenstein: “Sounds like a chapter Alan Hollinghurst left out of “The Line of Beauty.””
My very imagination when I read the post. How very odd?
nikko
He confronts stupid american evagelicals head on, what’s not to like? Why would anyone not be bitter at religion?!
ROB
Christopher Hitchens is a supremely articulate, witty and wonderful controversialist. He crushingly attacks Islamo-fascists who hate women and gays; he annihilates biblical literalism (and brilliantly described Jerry Falwall – hours after his death – as a Chaucerian charlatan who should’ve been selling pencils from a cup!); and has always supported gay rights…
He is a hero of mine; a politico-journalistic star who writes with astonishing eloquence. Stop with the crap, Queerty: Hitchens is not smarmy or gross. Rather, his voice, on the page or in vocal argument, provides a vital contribution to US/international secularism, which directly works to undermine the dangerous homophobia of fundamentalist religiosity.
missanthrope
Hitch is a misogynistic drunk who loves war-mongering. How this man continues to be listened too by some very smart people as a public intellectual is beyond me.
GranDiva
Gay, straight, whatever, the man is just a dag-nasty amewhore.
MissSenile
@ROB: You are SO wrong, you have no idea what u talking about Rob.
AB
We need more people like him who are antagonistic to religion and other superstitions. He isn’t perfect, but he is far better than other public intellectuals.
Lukas P.
I’ll credit Hitchens for his honesty about his same-sex dalliances. Not too many str8 American guys would include these episodes in their memoirs or other books.
I also, if given the choice, would prefer to read Hitch than Andrew Sullivan, who daily tries to convince us he is happily conservative, religious, AND gay — the mental calculus of which I cannot solve or resolve.
Athough I hope, as does Mr Ehrenstein, that the names of his sex mates will be unearthed, I think it’s sometimes more fun, however, to have those pieces of the stories be revealed piece by piece. Meanwhile, all Brit. Conservs. of his age range are now suspect! Fukken brilliant!
@David Ehrenstein: The Hollinghurst reference was spot on. I’ve recommended his books to several people and they liked them. Less tortuous that the Brideshead books that reflect a more distant, alien past.
WTF
It makes me absolutely sick that many gays still can’t distance themselves from religion and other petty superstitions.
Hitchens is an intelligent and well spoken man, and his willingness to admit a homosexual fling speaks volumes to his unflinching character. While sometimes he can come across as blunt or rude when speaking in opposition to religious groups, he always backs his statements up with evidence and sound logic. This alone is worth respecting regardless of whatever religious views you may hold.
TheInsider
This man is revolting and evil.
cfibb
Revolting he may be to some but, no, Hitchens is not evil. Nope. He’s actually one of the good guys. And, if needed, he would defend one’s personal right to same-sex marriage quite viciously (and eloquently!) …to say nothing of defending free speech and the right to attend one’s church of choice. But many people (gay AND straight) are just determined to remain in the closet about a lot of things, including their personal freedoms and safety. And there it is.
I’m with levelheaded folks like Larry, Nikko, ROB, AB, Lukas P. and WTF…THANKS FOR POSTING!
Thank God for Christopher Hitchens – “warts” and all!
Ken S
I find the hostility towards him for being a “rabid” anti-theist ridiculous. Being an anti-theist is no more vicious or absurd than being an anti-unicornist or anti-dragonist or anti-Cthulhuist. Not believing in something for which there is no *evidence* is entirely rational, and getting fed up with irrational people who insist on the existence of something that can’t be proven- and want the laws and want culture to accommodate that unsubstantiated belief (or worse, cater to it)- is entirely justifiable. It’s like getting pissed off at the crazy homeless guy who tells you you’re a bad person for not believing that the moon is made of cheese.