Books: Enormous Trifle

ENJOYMENT OF LIVING (603 pp.)—Max Eastman—Harper ($5).

Max Eastman, once a violently articulate Socialist and now a Reader's Digest "roving editor," has written about enjoyment in a way that takes most of the joy out of it.

Enjoyment of Living, which the jacket calls "the candid story of an exciting life," covers only his first 33 years (he is now 64). The excitement is largely buried under Eastman's incessant self:analysis (of his character, his personality, his libido), which makes up a good half of the book. The candor will strike many readers as needless bad taste.

"Something Should Happen." His father was a...