The Permissible Lie

by Samm Sinclair Baker. World, $5.95. After making his living in advertising for thirty years, Mr. Baker has undertaken to warn the public of the devious practices of the profession from which he has safely retired. His book has a peculiar history, in addition to the author’s remarkable patience about writing it. It was scheduled for publication and canceled at the last moment, when it came to the attention of authorities at the Reader’s Digest, the ultimate owner of the house in question. It now appears under another imprint. All this shifting about suggests dire chicanery by masked villains from Madison Avenue, but examination of the book raises another, quite unforeseen possibility. The thing is written with all the elegance of a truss ad, and the Digest people may have canned it for purely literary reasons.