A street is named after her. Back-to-back conferences celebrate her. New books champion her. Hannah Arendt has joined the small world of philosophical heroes. During her life, she received honorary degrees from Princeton, Smith, and other colleges and universities. Denmark awarded her its Sonning Prize for "commendable work that benefits European culture." Her work can sparkle, especially her essays. Yet with the great exception of "Eichmann in Jerusalem," her major books suffer from major cloudiness. Ironically, the more philosophical Arendt sought to be, the more opaque she became. Even after the most careful readings, it is difficult to know what Arendt is trying to say. This is as true of "The Human Condition" as of "The Origins of Totalitarianism," the book that first brought her attention. Arendt once identified herself as a freelance writer and sometimes objected when she was called a philosopher. In fact she might best be situated in the outer circles of the New York intellectuals, those hard-to-pigeonhole writers and critics of the mid-20th century.