HOW TO LIVE THE GOOD LIFE: The Commander Tells You How

The Schweppesman's familiar photogenic visage may bespeak, outwardly, a genteel, slightly smug, vaguely dull, urbanity. But his book, going tentatively beneath that surface, reveals what? A genteel, slightly smug, vaguely dull, urbanity, naturally. Never silly, but not as curiously refreshing as one might hope, tiffs self-help book tells the cloddish reader why Iris or her life isn't as terrific as the author's and what to do about it. The Commander advises concentration and self-assessment. (He finds himself, on the whole, to be very nice and so are his family and friends.) Good health is highly recommended and some simple fitness programs are propounded. The more exercise and the more raw food taken the better, says Whitehead. Tonic water is optional, apparently. How to charm the boss and underlings is described, with exemplars of appropriate humorous stories. (Indeed, the droll anecdotes throughout the book provide the leavening for this English muffin.) Make the most of your leisure time, the Commander says, and he recommends some music, a few books, and a hobby or two. Keep personal relationships in good repair and, finally, like the author, retire to more of the good life. All this advice evolved from Whitehead's lecture on ""The Good Life"" and how to avoid the curse of philistinism, which was delivered aboard the Cunard liner QE2. These maunderings, between the covers of a book, clearly suffer from the absence of Commander Whitehead, in person.