Saturday, December 11, 2004
IF YOU’RE NOT SUBSCRIBING TO THE NATION
This is What You’re Missing
The December 27 edition of The Nation is now online. Unfortunately, for those of you who don’t subscribe, you’re missing a terrific “Letters” section, not reproduced online, one that includes a missive from the detestable Christopher Hitchens, which I share with you herewith.
Bruce Robbins is entitled to his room-temperature resentment of me [“Prisoner of Love,” Dec. 6], but he makes a false allegation when he says that I have “repeatedly claimed [George] Orwell’s mantle.” To the contrary, and leaving aside the fact that I don’t believe in “mantles” anyway, I have taken every opportunity to disown this aspiration. My denial doesn’t involve me in much immodest effort: Orwell suffered from censorship and hardship all his writing life and took a bullet from a Francoist while narrowly escaping another one in the back from Stalin’s agents in Catalonia. My own life has been somewhat easier, and better rewarded. Moreover, Orwell wrote much better than I do and was capable of producing serious fiction, which I am not.
Once or twice, critics and reviewers have been good enough to make a comparison between us, which makes my shy but which delights my publishers. As with, say, “Jeffersonian,” the term “Orwellian” has only one proper attribution. The coinage “Hitchensian” is unkindly affixed by Robbins to the word “simplifications,” but even if it were yoked to a nobler term, I just can’t see much of a radiant future for it.
The mind reels. This is just so precious, isn’t it? If ever a piece warranted, needed even, a “fisking,” this would be it, but nobody, other than, I think, Andrew Sullivan, does that anymore, so I’ll let you share this with family and friends for your own hearty laughs. (I especially like the part about not being “capable of producing serious fiction.” And Hitchens “shy”? Hilarious.)
Note to Hitchens: Do not write letters to editors while intoxicated.
By the way, Robbins’s reply to Hitchens is outstanding. But to see that you will have to subscribe for, or buy, the magazine. And you really should anyway.
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JAMES MARTIN CAPOZZOLA
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James Martin (Jim) Capozzola launched The Rittenhouse Review in April 2002, TRR: The Lighter Side of Rittenhouse, HorowitzWatch, and Smarter Andrew Sullivan in July 2002, and Bulldogs for Kerry-Edwards in October 2004. He is also a contributing member of President Boxer.
He received the 2002 Koufax Award for Best Post> for "Al Gore and the Alpha Girls" (published November 25, 2002). Capozzola's record in the Koufax Awards includes two additional nominations for 2002 (Best Blog and Best Writing), three nominations for 2003 (Best Blog, Best Series, and Best Writing), and two finalist nominations in 2004 (Best Blog and Best Writing).
Capozzola’s experience beyond the blogosphere includes a lengthy career in financial journalism, securities analysis, and investment research, and in freelance writing, editing, ghost-writing, and writing instruction.
He earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University at Albany and a master's in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.
Capozzola lives in Philadelphia with his bulldog, Mildred.
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