Book description
In this frank and damning exposé of the Teresa cult, Hitchens
details the nature and limits of one woman's mission to help the
world's poor. He probes the source of the heroic status bestowed upon
an Albanian nun whose only declared wish was to serve God. He asks
whether Mother Teresa's good works answered any higher purpose than
the need of the world's privileged to see someone, somewhere, doing
something for the Third World. He unmasks pseudo-miracles, questions
Mother Teresa's fitness to adjudicate on matters of sex and
reproduction, and reports on a version of saintly ubiquity which
affords genial relations with dictators, corrupt tycoons and convicted
frauds. Is Mother Teresa merely an essential salve to the conscience
of the rich West, or an expert PR machine for the Catholic Church? In
its caustic iconoclasm and unsparing wit, The Missionary Position
showcases the devastating effect of Hitchens' writing at its polemical best.
Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) was a contributing editor to
Vanity Fair and a regular contributor to the New York times Book
Review and Slate. He is the author of numerous books, including works
on Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, George Orwell, Henry Kissinger and
Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as his international bestseller and
National Book Award nominee, god Is Not Great.
