EDEN IN JEOPARDY

There is a definite resemblance here between form and subject matter; Mr. Lillard's book seems nearly as full as Southern California is of colorful, fascinating things and people, and nearly as confused and confusing. He writes primarily of the changes that have come about in the region over the past couple of generations, the ""heedless, headlong, onward plunge"" of immigration there, and all the consequent socio-political problems. There is no doubting the seriousness of these matters. The heterogeneity of America's fastest-growing area may be exciting to watch, but the lack of coherent foresight is appalling to consider, particularly when one views it with this author as a ""portentous foreshadowing"" of what mankind will likely do to his whole civilization. But it is also a frustrating experience to travel through lengthy descriptions of sumptuous upheaval and never come across any consistent ideas for correcting these disastrous trends. Perhaps this, too, can be blamed on that legendary climate--producing aimless, overblown prose, like huge, pulpy, seedless oranges.