What is a deipnosophist?

Posted on January 10, 2008 by Nicholas Gruen
Posted in Politics - international, Literature, Media

Find out if you want to by clicking through when the word appears in this rather fun review of Christopher Hitchens.  Not that Christopher is either my cup of tea or especially interesting.  But he is quite fun to watch - so long as you don't devote much time to it!

5 Comments

  1. Chris Lloyd
    January 10, 2008

    This Neil Fitzgerald isnt a shabby wordsmith himself. I particularly loved the following descriptions of Hitchens.

    Red-eyed from a continual cocktail hour and spoiling for an intellectual ruckus.
    He bides his time, sucking in his top lip, drawing breath and failing to suppress snorts of indignation or derision. A cartoon bull, he claws the earth with his hooves as the toreador waves a red flag in his face.
  2. Nicholas Gruen
    January 10, 2008

    Yes, I had meant to imply that in what I'd written, but was a bit too sotto voce about it. I thought he was lightly sending Hitch up with his choice of style.

  3. Niall
    January 11, 2008

    I lose interest in articles which use five words where one would do. What's the upshot?

  4. Nicholas Gruen
    January 11, 2008

    The author doesn't use five words where one would do. He uses words you (and I) don't know the meaning of. Which can be fun - at least if they're good words.

  5. Niall
    January 14, 2008

    Hmmm........I don't regard Hitchens as 'smart' JC. Bombastic perhaps, and maybe smart as in Alec, but that's about it.