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Truth Imagined
Blind as a child, Eric Hoffer--one of America's most important thinkers--regained his sight at the age of fifteen and became a voracious reader. At eighteen, fate would take his remaining family, sending him on the road with three hundred dollars and into the life of a Depression Era migrant worker, but his appetite for knowledge--history, science, mankind--remained and became the basis for his insights on human nature. Filled with timeless aphorisms and entertaining stories, Truth Imagined tracks Hoffer's years on the road, which served as the breeding ground for his most fertile thoughts. (Restored to print by noted author Christopher Klim.)
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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About the author
Eric Hoffer
42 books589 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 22, 2012
Fascinating autobiography from one of my all time favorite thinkers. While I've read a couple of his other books, it was interesting to see how his perspective and insights on life developed.
It was almost shocking to read someone with such a brilliant mind write about how they came within a hair of suicide. He went as far as analyzing all the different means to carry out the act and settling on a poison that would make it look accidental. He thankfully spit out the first sip and decided to pursue life.
Eric approached life as a tourist, never staying in one place too long, until he finally settled down as a longshoreman, but even that reflected the life of a migrant. This may have been the cause of many of his great insights. He analyzed many situations he found himself in and never settled to go without an answer to questions he had.
"Familiarity dulls the cutting edge of life. It is perhaps a mark of the artist that he is an eternal stranger in this world, a visitor from another planet."
If you've never read anything from Eric Hoffer, or if you've only read The True Believer, read Reflections on the Human Condition as well as Truth Imagined to get insight into one of America's greatest thinkers.
It was almost shocking to read someone with such a brilliant mind write about how they came within a hair of suicide. He went as far as analyzing all the different means to carry out the act and settling on a poison that would make it look accidental. He thankfully spit out the first sip and decided to pursue life.
Eric approached life as a tourist, never staying in one place too long, until he finally settled down as a longshoreman, but even that reflected the life of a migrant. This may have been the cause of many of his great insights. He analyzed many situations he found himself in and never settled to go without an answer to questions he had.
"Familiarity dulls the cutting edge of life. It is perhaps a mark of the artist that he is an eternal stranger in this world, a visitor from another planet."
If you've never read anything from Eric Hoffer, or if you've only read The True Believer, read Reflections on the Human Condition as well as Truth Imagined to get insight into one of America's greatest thinkers.
October 2, 2007
I pulled this book off a library shelf by chance in 1992. In doing so, I became a Hoffer fan for life.
Hoffer was one of the most notable American philosophers of the later 20th Century. Some call him a "socialogist". He was totally self-taught; he never went beyond the 8th grade and he worked most of his life as a longshoreman in San Francisco. He educated himself through voracious, wide-ranging reading. Out of that self-education came his insightful, wholly original writing. Until recently, most of his book had been shamefully allowed to go out of print. Thankfully, that's changed.
If you fear heavy, philosophical texts, don't worry. Hoffer is written for the 'common' person. He's exceptionally readable---but not simplistic. I hope you've got your library card handy. Hoffer will have you heading off to the stacks to check out all the fascinating authors he alludes to in his books.
TRUTH IMAGINED is the story of how Eric Hoffer became Eric Hoffer. Until somebody writes a definitive biography, this is the place to start learning about a true American original.
Hoffer was one of the most notable American philosophers of the later 20th Century. Some call him a "socialogist". He was totally self-taught; he never went beyond the 8th grade and he worked most of his life as a longshoreman in San Francisco. He educated himself through voracious, wide-ranging reading. Out of that self-education came his insightful, wholly original writing. Until recently, most of his book had been shamefully allowed to go out of print. Thankfully, that's changed.
If you fear heavy, philosophical texts, don't worry. Hoffer is written for the 'common' person. He's exceptionally readable---but not simplistic. I hope you've got your library card handy. Hoffer will have you heading off to the stacks to check out all the fascinating authors he alludes to in his books.
TRUTH IMAGINED is the story of how Eric Hoffer became Eric Hoffer. Until somebody writes a definitive biography, this is the place to start learning about a true American original.
March 23, 2008
A selective autobiography spanning his life from late adolescence up to Pearl Harbor, this documents his life on the road. Would be better if included in a larger collection of his works. The man is an American original, his anecdotes are concise and always entertaining. Chapters here are shorter than Dan Brown's so if you have a short attention span, this will be easy to swallow. If you are a fan of On the Road and other such works of the "Beat" generation, this man lived the life Kerouac immortalized a decade later. There is no real structure, very few conclusions and maybe only a couple truly inspiring insights - I certainly wanted to know more and feel there is much to be gained from his life and experiences. But in this form, there just wasn't enough here for me to justify its existence as a stand alone volume and would love to have seen it as part of a greater whole.
December 10, 2014
A very good read, All of Eric's work is always a great read,
December 31, 2020
Eric Hoffer was a longshoreman and a self-taught philosopher who wrote best selling books on why people joined mass movements and populism in the 1950s and 1960s that reflected the prejudices of that time period and are now considered politically incorrect, although they contain many truisms. He disseminated information about his background and antecedents that are vague and unverifiable. This book and the stories in it are part of the mythology that Hoffer spun about his life history prior to becoming a longshoreman. It is unclear how much is fact, and how much is fiction. What is clear is that this is a wonderful hagiography about his early life.
The book rates 3.5 stars.
The book rates 3.5 stars.
September 24, 2021
A memoir of Hoffer’s life up to becoming a longshoreman and writing THE TRUE BELIEVER. His adventurers as a migrant worker, moving from one location to another to work the farms or whatever else to make a living. His chapter hopping the freight trains and the dangers that may pose very interesting. Although it is a very good book, I did not think it was up to the quality of most of his other works that I have read. Still recommended…SLT
August 17, 2022
The kind of life we don't get to live anymore. Seemingly honest- full of joy and it's opposite. The picture of an America that no longer exists and a man that took advantage of it's glory. Simultaneously a capitalist and pro-union, a combo that might no longer exist.
February 27, 2022
Many stories and journeys from the great thinker
July 1, 2023
(3.5 Stars)
April 5, 2025
I had expected more and better. What is provided is good. A couple of spots are notable even. I'll reread True Believer and see what I missed.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews