"In the book that he quite possibly was born to write, provocateur and bestselling author Christopher Hitchens inspires future generations of radicals, gadflies, mavericks, rebels, angry young (wo)men and dissidents. Who better to speak to that person pitched at an angle of passionate disagreement against the lazy consensus than Hitchens, who has made a career of disagreeing in profound and entertaining ways?" "This book explores the entire range of "contrary positions," invoking mentors such as Emile Zola, Rosa Parks and Vaclav Havel. What they have in common is a commitment to living and thinking, right now, in a society not as it is but as it might be. Hitchens bemoans the loss of the skills of dialectical thinking evident in contemporary society and the sacrifice of true irony, satire and other forms of critical style. He understands the importance of disagreement - to personal integrity, to informed discussion, to true progress - to democracy itself."--BOOK JACKET.