American interjection

The New York scene reveals many traces of … unrest. Insecurity reigs. Almost everyone hates his job. Psychiatrists of all schools are as common as monks in the Thebaid. “Who is your analyst?” will disarm any interviewer; books on how to be happy, how to attain peace of mind, how to win friends and influence people, how to breath, how to achiece a cheap sentimental humanism at other people’s expense, how to become a Chinaman like Lin Yutang and make a lot of money, how to be a Baba’i or breed chickens all sell in millions. Religios houses of retreas merge imperceptibly into disintoxication clinics and private mental homes for the victims of traffic light and nervous break-down. ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ slink like house detectives around the literary cocktail parties. A most interesting phenomenon is the state of mind apparent in Time, Life, The New York, and similar magazines.

• The American people