In magnificently self-important form, Hitchens dispenses advice on how to be a habitual disagreer—very entertaining when I could follow it, annoying when I couldn’t. The book is structured as a set of letters to an imaginary protege, and often has poignant advice:

“There is no decent or charted way of making a living at [being contrary]. It is something you are, and not something you do.

All in all this is an admirable testament to argument for its own sake, and worth reading especially if you don’t think you’ll like it.