Stress without distress.

With his latest book the physician who originated the concept of stress takes his place with gurus such as Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale, and Mahara-Ji in proffering a system of self-help. It is Selye's belief that ""the rules which act so efficiently at the level of cells and organs could also be the source of a natural philosophy of life, leading to a code of behavior based on scientific principles."" The cornerstone of his creed is ""altruistic egotism,"" which he reformulates as ""Earn thy neighbor's love."" Other elements consist of analogs to Selye's scientific work: "". . . we must get used to regarding all problems we face as combinations of several factors""; find your optimum level of stress; be active; choose between ""syntoxic"" (ignoring a troublesome situation) and ""catatoxic"" (fighting it) behavior in daily life. The cake is frosted with ""various little tricks"" such as, "". . . Don't waste your time trying to befriend a mad dog,"" and ""Try to keep your mind constantly on the pleasant aspects of life. . . . "" One wonders what Selye has been hearing through his stethoscope. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.