THE ORDEAL OF CHANGE

During the Eisenhower Administration philosophical popularizer Eric Hoffer hit the headlines as the President's curl-up-with-a-book favorite; since then White House tastes have changed, but Hoffer's hopalong horse sense, elongated epigrams and generally purposive, pithy prose have not. On Brotherhood: It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor. On Politics: Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. On Communism: It is a Capitalist heresy. On Revolutions: they are not set in motion to realize radical changes, rather it is drastic change which sets their stage. On Resentment: an emotion shared, often in concert, by both the awakening masses and the unacknowledged intellectuals. On America: the Old World's undesirables built it, thereby that given a chance even duds could do great works and deeds. Other contemplations cover the East European uprisings, Asian anger, ""unnatural"" human nature and the title essay- all cogently constructed, pragmatically resolved. A soothing yet stimulating breviary of high-minded beliefs and honest-to-goodness hard thinking.