Mortality

Posthumously published book by Anglo-American writer Christopher Hitchens. It comprises seven essays which first appeared in Vanity Fair concerning his struggle with esophageal cancer, with which he was diagnosed during his 2010 book tour and which killed him in December 2011. An eighth chapter consisting of unfinished "fragmentary jottings", a foreword by Graydon Carter (Hitchens' Vanity Fair editor) and an afterword by Carol Blue (Hitchens' widow), are also included in the publication.

Hitchens held the post of contributing editor at Vanity Fair from November 1992 until his death. In this capacity he contributed about 10 essays per year on subjects as diverse as politics and the limits of self-improvement, writing about "anything except sports". Therefore, he felt obliged when he was asked to write about his illness for the magazine, and managed to dispatch seven essays from "Tumourville" before he was overcome by his illness on 15 December 2011, aged 62. The essays take as their subject matter his fear of losing the ability to write, the torture of chemotherapy, an analysis of Nietzsche's proclamation that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," the joy of conversation and the very meaning of life.