Paul's enemies
Sir: Your readers may perhaps have noticed that I am on Paul Johnson's 'ene- mies list'. They may even have wondered what I did to qualify. I promised myself that, if Johnson mentioned my name again, I would enlighten any interested reader about his motives.
A few years ago, I wrote an article about him in the Nation magazine of New York. He boasted that he would sue me if he could get the article into the English juris- diction. I thereupon republished it, with a few extra ruffles and flourishes, in Critical Quarterly. No writ was forthcoming, but a tirade of innuendo and malice began, with the (relatively) innocent Spectator as its conduit.
The entire article appears on pages 260-64 of my 1993 collection, For the Sake of Argument, a book which remains unsued to this day. Any reader unable to find a copy, and sufficiently curious about the ori- gins of at least some of Johnson's arm-wav- ings, can write to me for a free photostat at the address below.
Christopher Hitchens
2022 Columbia Road NW, Washington DC 20009, USA
Paul Johnson writes: Christopher Hitchens is not on my enemies list; he is not substan- tial enough to qualify. Nor did I say I would sue him: that is a self-important invention. I did take advice on his book and was told, 'No one gives any credence to what Hitchens writes, his references to you are such obvious lies, and the circulation of the book so small, that you should not waste your time on the fellow.' When asked about Hitchens I always answer, 'As a thief he may be amateurish — witness the Watkins Leaving Present Affair — but as a liar he is right up among the professionals.'
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