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The Temper of Our Time by Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer--one of America's most important thinkers and the author of The True Believer--lived for years as a Depression Era migratory worker. Self-taught, his appetite for knowledge--history, science, mankind--formed the basis of his insight to human nature. The Temper of Our Time examines the influence of the juvenile mentality, the rise of automation, the black revolution, the regression of the back-to-nature movement, the intellectual vs. learning, and other relevent issues.
Paperback
First published May 1, 1966
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About the author
Eric Hoffer
41 books587 followersEric Hoffer was an American social writer and philosopher. He produced ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983 by President of the United States Ronald Reagan. His first book, The True Believer, published in 1951, was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen, although Hoffer believed that his book The Ordeal of Change was his finest work. In 2001, the Eric Hoffer Award was established in his honor with permission granted by the Eric Hoffer Estate in 2005.
Early life
Hoffer was born in the Bronx, New York City in 1902 (or possibly 1898), the son of Knut and Elsa Hoffer, immigrants from Alsace. By the age of five, he could read in both German and English. When he was age five, his mother fell down a flight of stairs with Eric in her arms. Hoffer went blind for unknown medical reasons two years later, but later in life he said he thought it might have been due to trauma. ("I lost my sight at the age of seven. Two years before, my mother and I fell down a flight of stairs. She did not recover and died in that second year after the fall.I lost my sight and for a time my memory"). After his mother's death he was raised by a live-in relative or servant, a German woman named Martha. His eyesight inexplicably returned when he was 15. Fearing he would again go blind, he seized upon the opportunity to read as much as he could for as long as he could. His eyesight remained, and Hoffer never abandoned his habit of voracious reading.
Hoffer was a young man when his father, a cabinetmaker, died. The cabinetmaker's union paid for the funeral and gave Hoffer a little over three hundred dollars. Sensing that warm Los Angeles was the best place for a poor man, Hoffer took a bus there in 1920. He spent the next 10 years on Los Angeles' skid row, reading, occasionally writing, and working odd jobs. On one such job, selling oranges door-to-door, he discovered he was a natural salesman and could easily make good money. Uncomfortable with this discovery, he quit after one day.
In 1931, he attempted suicide by drinking a solution of oxalic acid, but the attempt failed as he could not bring himself to swallow the poison. The experience gave him a new determination to live adventurously. It was then he left skid row and became a migrant worker. Following the harvests along the length of California, he collected library cards for each town near the fields where he worked and, living by preference, "between the books and the brothels." A seminal event for Hoffer occurred in the mountains where he had gone in search of gold. Snowed in for the winter, he read the Essays by Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne's book impressed Hoffer deeply, and he often made reference to its importance for him. He also developed a great respect for America's underclass, which, he declared, was "lumpy with talent."
Longshoreman
Hoffer was in San Francisco by 1941. He attempted to enlist in the Armed forces there in 1942 but was rejected because of a hernia. Wanting to contribute to the war effort, he found ample opportunity as a longshoreman on the docks of The Embarcadero. It was there he felt at home and finally settled down. He continued reading voraciously and soon began to write while earning a living loading and unloading ships. He continued this work until he retired at age 65.
Hoffer considered his best work to be The True Believer, a landmark explanation of fanaticism and mass movements. The Ordeal of Change is also a literary favorite. In 1970 he endowed the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Laconic Essay Prize for students, faculty, and staff at the University of California, Berkeley.
Hoffer was a charismatic individual and persuasive public speaker, but said that he didn’t really care about people. Despite authoring 10 books and a newspaper column, in retirement Hoffer continued his robust life of the mind, thinking and writing alone, in an apartment.
Early life
Hoffer was born in the Bronx, New York City in 1902 (or possibly 1898), the son of Knut and Elsa Hoffer, immigrants from Alsace. By the age of five, he could read in both German and English. When he was age five, his mother fell down a flight of stairs with Eric in her arms. Hoffer went blind for unknown medical reasons two years later, but later in life he said he thought it might have been due to trauma. ("I lost my sight at the age of seven. Two years before, my mother and I fell down a flight of stairs. She did not recover and died in that second year after the fall.I lost my sight and for a time my memory"). After his mother's death he was raised by a live-in relative or servant, a German woman named Martha. His eyesight inexplicably returned when he was 15. Fearing he would again go blind, he seized upon the opportunity to read as much as he could for as long as he could. His eyesight remained, and Hoffer never abandoned his habit of voracious reading.
Hoffer was a young man when his father, a cabinetmaker, died. The cabinetmaker's union paid for the funeral and gave Hoffer a little over three hundred dollars. Sensing that warm Los Angeles was the best place for a poor man, Hoffer took a bus there in 1920. He spent the next 10 years on Los Angeles' skid row, reading, occasionally writing, and working odd jobs. On one such job, selling oranges door-to-door, he discovered he was a natural salesman and could easily make good money. Uncomfortable with this discovery, he quit after one day.
In 1931, he attempted suicide by drinking a solution of oxalic acid, but the attempt failed as he could not bring himself to swallow the poison. The experience gave him a new determination to live adventurously. It was then he left skid row and became a migrant worker. Following the harvests along the length of California, he collected library cards for each town near the fields where he worked and, living by preference, "between the books and the brothels." A seminal event for Hoffer occurred in the mountains where he had gone in search of gold. Snowed in for the winter, he read the Essays by Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne's book impressed Hoffer deeply, and he often made reference to its importance for him. He also developed a great respect for America's underclass, which, he declared, was "lumpy with talent."
Longshoreman
Hoffer was in San Francisco by 1941. He attempted to enlist in the Armed forces there in 1942 but was rejected because of a hernia. Wanting to contribute to the war effort, he found ample opportunity as a longshoreman on the docks of The Embarcadero. It was there he felt at home and finally settled down. He continued reading voraciously and soon began to write while earning a living loading and unloading ships. He continued this work until he retired at age 65.
Hoffer considered his best work to be The True Believer, a landmark explanation of fanaticism and mass movements. The Ordeal of Change is also a literary favorite. In 1970 he endowed the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Laconic Essay Prize for students, faculty, and staff at the University of California, Berkeley.
Hoffer was a charismatic individual and persuasive public speaker, but said that he didn’t really care about people. Despite authoring 10 books and a newspaper column, in retirement Hoffer continued his robust life of the mind, thinking and writing alone, in an apartment.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 16, 2008
Eric Hoffer is a noticer. This book represents his attempt to discern the "temper of our time." The ages have each been characterized by some overarching sentiment or attribute. What is the attribute for our age?
The book was published around 1966, although this edition is a 2008 reprint with a number of copy errors in it and no indication of the original publication date that I could find. The date of 1966 was found at the end of the preface.
Over three decades later, times have changed. It is interesting to look back and see how much of Mr. Hoffer's ideas are still relevant.
Hoffer claimed that his was the age of the "intellectual." By intellectual, he meant anyone who identifies with a certain elite class that has, among its various characteristics, a rather cynical and condescending disposition toward the common mass of mankind. He describes much of what inevitably results from such thinking.
Over all, an excellent read. This is a thinking book and requires a lot of attention. I find that ideas need to be sorted out and meshed with other ideas from other sources.
The book was published around 1966, although this edition is a 2008 reprint with a number of copy errors in it and no indication of the original publication date that I could find. The date of 1966 was found at the end of the preface.
Over three decades later, times have changed. It is interesting to look back and see how much of Mr. Hoffer's ideas are still relevant.
Hoffer claimed that his was the age of the "intellectual." By intellectual, he meant anyone who identifies with a certain elite class that has, among its various characteristics, a rather cynical and condescending disposition toward the common mass of mankind. He describes much of what inevitably results from such thinking.
Over all, an excellent read. This is a thinking book and requires a lot of attention. I find that ideas need to be sorted out and meshed with other ideas from other sources.
June 23, 2019
It's Eric Hoffer, thinking out loud, writing well.
June 27, 2019
To say I am impressed hardly begins to express it. A philosopher of American culture up there with Rand, Rogers, and Wolfe. How have I gotten this far without hearing of him before! I will be getting more of his work forthwith.
February 4, 2016
An interesting series of essays by the self-taught philosopher and retired longshoreman on the subject of the impact of political, social and economic changes on people provide insights into how those changes affect human behavior and the form of government and the structure of the economy. The essays reflect the politics and prejudices of the time in which they were written, the 1960s, and also surprisingly an anti-intellectual bias.
October 30, 2017
Eric Hoffer was a very interesting man, a reader an observer and a free thinker. I read this book the first time in the early 70's and again now. Many of his thoughts are still important and relevant. The essay on nature, I thought, is archaic.
October 1, 2007
Great read on the causes of instability and revolution from an interesting author.
January 14, 2008
Great book that was written the 60's and still applies to today. He referes to Montaine a great deal.
November 25, 2013
And now I'm sad that there is only one book left to read by him.
June 29, 2020
A lot of thought provoking material and a good insight into the swirl of the 1960s political thinking.
November 25, 2023
Was a pretty solid 3-star until the final two essays which were absolutely 5-star essays. The man is an underrated author and thinker.
December 20, 2024
Oh eww racism
September 10, 2025
Always love a good Hoffer book. Written 60 years ago, still resonates today.
July 11, 2008
Hoffer is great.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews