Saturday, October 24, 2020

American Iconoclast

 This is the name of a biography written by Thomas Shactman on Eric Hoffer. Schactman had access to Hoffer's papers, and seems well informed with new materials about Hoffer, but something seems to be missing to me.

On one hand Shactman seems intimately to be aware of what made Hoffer tick, and yet he does not seem sympathetic towards Hoffer. He may even believe that Hoffer is not that bright, is incorrect on many issues, and may not be a good person.

Shactman seems like a Leftie, and that he is analyzing and characterizing Hoffer through that prism. If he does not conclude that Hoffer is a genius, a good man, with a passion for the truth as a thinker that anticipates the rise of Mavellonialism, then Shactman in a way does not know Hoffer.

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