The Portable AtheistEssential Readings for the Nonbeliever

Just about every possible thesis against the existence of an all-powerful deity.
The Portable Atheist includes part of a letter that Albert Einstein sent to an acquaintance in the early years of the 20th century. Noting the vastness of human suffering, Einstein wondered where God fit into the equation. "(I)n my opinion," he wrote, "only his nonexistence could excuse Him."

This book's editor, the prolific Christopher Hitchens, is not out to "excuse" God — he's far more interested in the "nonexistence" part. Seeking to gather every possible thesis against the existence of an all-powerful deity, Hitchens has assembled a volume of writings that rely on scrupulous intellectual reasoning and, occasionally, dry wit.

Starting with an essay by Lucretius, the Roman scholar who died more than 2,000 years ago, Hitchens' selections span centuries; included are entries from writers as dissimilar in era and vocation as John Stuart Mill, the 19th century thinker, and Penn Jillette, the contemporary magician/author/filmmaker. Two philosophers from long ago — Benedict de Spinoza (who lived in the 1600s) and David Hume (the 1700s) — write about the ways in which religion is often linked to "fear." Novelist Ian McEwan delineates the odd relationship between a belief in a supreme being and a fixation on a forthcoming apocalypse.

The essays are largely quite serious, but Hitchens is smart enough to leaven The Portable Atheist with some comic irreverence. A satirical piece by author Michael Shermer looks at the creation of the universe. After all his work, Shermer writes, "God was tired, so He proclaimed, 'Thank me it's Friday'." Even funnier are parts of Bertrand Russell's "An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish." Discussing fake prophets, Russell writes, "I received once a communication from the god Osiris, giving me his telephone number; he lived, at that time, in a suburb of Boston."

Hitchens' book is read by English actor Nicholas Ball, who has a sturdy voice for his second line of work. Although some of the book's passages are complex, or are related in language that has gone out of fashion, Ball's smooth cadence makes it all fairly easy to absorb.