Vanity Fair's website reported that he died at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, surrounded by friends, whom he described earlier this year as "my chief consolation in this year of living dyingly" after writing last year that "cancer victimhood contains a permanent temptation to be self-centered and even solipsistic".
Hitchens was known for his heroic intake of alcohol and cigarettes. He wrote in 2003 that his daily intake of alcohol was enough to "stun the average mule".
He said he had given up smoking in 2008, but journalist and author Peter FitzSimons, who interviewed him for his appearance the 2010 Sydney Writers' Festival, said Hitchens had been still smoking as of last year.
Christopher Hitchens Dead
Hitchens was known for his heroic intake of alcohol and cigarettes. He wrote in 2003 that his daily intake of alcohol was enough to "stun the average mule".
He said he had given up smoking in 2008, but journalist and author Peter FitzSimons, who interviewed him for his appearance the 2010 Sydney Writers' Festival, said Hitchens had been still smoking as of last year.
Christopher Hitchens Dead