Mr. Hitchens's memoir covers deeply personal, occasionally embarrassing territory, including hisonenightstand with Mr. Amis's late sister Sally and the pair's botched attempt to "research" a brothel scene for Mr. Amis's novel "Money" at a seedy New York massage parlor.
Nor did he exactly reinforce his reputation as a heavyweight by agreeing to stand down as a leadership contender in favour of Michael Howard over champagne onenight, then changing his mind over coffee next morning.