Judging A Book By Its Cover

Cultural critic Curtis White, who takes Americans to task for not thinking for themselves in The Middle Mind, has reason to be grumpy about his book's cover art. Both last year's hard-cover and the new paperback edition of Mind use (different) stock photos that also appear on other new books. ''There oughta be a law against this,'' grouses White, ''although I don't think they'd make one on my behalf.''