Christopher Hitchens diagnosed with cancer, cuts short his book tour



Christopher Hitchens, May 17, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Marvin Joseph /TWP)

Christopher Hitchens is being treated for cancer, forcing the D.C. writer to cut short his latest book tour. In a statement released through his publisher Twelve, the British-born provocateur, 61, said that he has "been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus. This advice seems persuasive to me." The notorious chainsmoker announced in 2008 he had given up tobacco -- driven, he said, by "fear." (His wife Carol Blue told us then he "wants to live -- live to see his political enemies defeated.") But he was still sneaking a smoke or two when our colleague Manuel Roig-Franzia interviewed him last month.