THE VOICE OF THE DESERT (223 pp.)Joseph Wood KrutchWilliam Sloane Associates ($3.75).
Americans have listened eagerly to the many-voiced cry of their continent. Seashore, mountains, valleys and plains have spoken and been heard. But the voice of the desert has been largely ignored. To the Hebrews it spoke of the one true God, to the Arabs of the stars and the science of astronomy. It is a stern, conservative voice, encouraging endurance rather than conquest. The desert shows man his limitations and turns him inward. When practical-minded men inquire, "But what is the desert good for?", perhaps the best answer still...