CREDIT: THE MISSIONARY POSITION

I always enjoy provocative books that challenge the average way of analyzing and rethinking of our society and culture. Christopher Hitchens' The Missionary Position, a polar-opposite look on Mother Teresa and her work, satisfies that requirement. Those familiar and appreciative of the late Hitchens should feel right at home with the book's impassioned and raw style, a constant of his many works. True to his polemic manner, The Missionary Position tackles a topic most would immediately find tasteless to even acknowledge: looking at Mother Teresa, and the actual charitability of her works.

Riding on the coattails of the Hitchens-produced Hell's Angel, a 1994 documentary that played a part in the deconstruction of Mother Teresa's popular public image of a kindly old woman who so wanted to help the world, The Missionary Position further expands upon the ways of Mother Teresa, containing an analysis of her rise in popularity and divine connections. The book delves further into the nature of her charities, coupled with her willingness to be used as a political tool by the Vatican. There are various testimonials provided by Mother Teresa's former allies, who denounce her for reasons that are shocking. All this was done while she was alive, and at the height of her popularity, further increasing the riskiness of publishing the book at the time, which should certainly help one appreciate it further.

Covered in this exposé is Mother Teresa's rise to fame with the help of documentary filmmaker Malcolm Muggeridge's coverage of the Calcutta Home for the Dying that she ran. Hitchens dives into digging up the dirt, with reproductions of letters from Mother Teresa's former comrades that reveal some disturbing stories centred around the various charitable homes, a large number of dissidents talking about the lack of adequate medical care for the suffering. Some rather horrifying tales, such as the incident where a young boy was refused medication for an otherwise curable ailment that eventually developed into a kidney- destroying nightmare, are told in this book.

Mother Teresa's lesser known but reputation-devastating exploits, include the praising of despots and con artists as charitable. And of course corruption goes hand-in-hand with money, with questions of bank accounts stuffed with millions unaccounted for being raised. Indeed, the book completely slams Mother Teresa's public image as a kindly old woman, painting one of a tyrannical, reasonless religious fundamentalist who sided with cheats and manipulated politicians with her disarming nature to further her own (and the Vatican's) religious agendas instead.

This 90-page book may seem small, but it nevertheless packs quite a wallop, serving as a dousing of cold water to those completely unfamiliar with this side of Mother Teresa. If you have a keen interest in finding out how the things you hold dear and see as pure aren't as holy as you thought, The Missionary Position will be a definite contender for your shelf's real-estate.

Reading Between The Lines explores books that you may have missed out on that are worth your while. If you have a book to suggest, email Eshaan at e_gupta@fanshaweonline.ca.