Paul Goodman 1911-1972

Many years ago Paul Goodman called me on the phone. “How are you?” I asked. “Right this minute,” he replied, “I feel lousy. Underneath, though, I’m all right. Below that there is, of course, the usual nagging. At bottom, however, I’m really fine.”

How could a man conscious of so many layers of mood be a Type? Successful cultural performers of our time—Marinetti, Breton, Sartre, Buckminster Fuller, Warhol, McLuhan—are keyed to a single...