The Talk of the Town Plot by Jane Boutwell. Talk story about "Death in Venice," the new Benjamin Britten work that is now in the repertory of the Metropolitan Opera. The opera, which can be interpreted on any number of musical & philosophical levels, is based on the multilayered novella by Thomas Mann. Writer attended a cast party on...

Fiction Plainfolks by Garrison Keillor. 12th grade students put out a book called "Plainfolks" a study of local folkways and lore. Among the people written about are two men who formerly did car customizing. Today neither of them drives a customized car. It requires complete dedication, they said. Tells what they said, deploring the younger...

Fiction The Patient by Barbara Lawrence. Alexander thinks, his large nose is growing larger. To his surprise, Dr. Kahmstetter did not pay much attention to the problem of his nose. He was more interested in the kind of people Alexander knew. Alexander described them: the Ones were the gapers; the Twos observed covertly. It was the...

Concert Records / Popular Music by Ellen Willis.

The Talk of the Town Dirty Tricks by Mark Singer. Talk story about dirty tricks inthe 26th District election campaign between Joan Davidson & incumbent State Sen. Roy Goodman. Discusses the uses of posters by both campaigns: a Goodman billboard was displayed opposite Davidson headquarters; Sally Morse & Kenneth Craddock, workers for Davidson, tore down Goodman posters & were accused...

Letter from Selvole by William Murray. Selvole, a hilltop village in the Chianti region of Tuscany, now houses only 32 people, and at its peak probably had only 3 or 4 times that many permanent residents. It was once fortified, with its own castello, and played a not insignificant role in the wars between Florence &...

Comment by Ved Mehta. Writer tellls about a friend who received a letter from his stockbroker apologizing for how badly they had done by his securities in the last few years. He sent for an "inflation-survival kit" that had come to his attention through a junk-mail circular. It had material by Jim...

The Art World by Harold Rosenberg. Critique of the new Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. Not long ago in Washington Congressman Dondero was declaiming that modern art is part of the Communist Conspiracy proved by the strategic role in it of Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian...

Fiction Leaving the Church by Mark Helprin. Father Trelew's spartan parish, comprised of Indians was located somewhere in the Arizona desert. His parents died disappointed that their son was nothing more than "The Indian Priest." After 40 yrs. at this parish, he was called to Rome to participate in Vatican Council II. He had been in Rome...

The Race Track by G. F. T. Ryall. Stonewalk won the Jerome Handicap at Aqueduct. He has done all right for Danny Lopez, who took him out of a claming race for $25,000 last year and trains him for the Timberland Stable, owned by his father...

The Air (On Television) KIDVID by Michael J. Arlen.

U. S. Journal 250 and Beyond by Calvin Trillin. U. S. JOURNAL: VERMONT about environmental-control legislation in Vt. Four yrs. ago, a piece of environmental legislation unprecedented in this country was passed in the Vt. legislature. It was Act 250. It aimed at subdividers and quickie developers. There could be no building unless district commissioners were assured that...

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

Profiles EXPLORER I-A BRUTAL FACT by William Wertenbaker. PROFILE of the late William Maurice Ewing (1906-1974), marine geophysicist, who founded the Lamont Geological Observatory in 1949. It has since become the world's leading geophysical research center, & has "produced over half the data" of a geophysical nature about the ocean floors & "initiated all...except two" of the...

Books by V. S. Pritchett.

Letter from Washington by Richard H. Rovere. Polls and prophets advise us that a Democratic sweep is in the making & Pres. Ford is sufficiently alarmed to put his prestige on the line & plead with the electorate to protect him & themselves from a "veto-proof" Congress. Not quite everyone is sure of a Democratic landslide...

Anniversary Birthday Child by Geoffrey T. Hellman. Talk story about the Morgan Library which is celebrating its 50th birthday with an anniversary exhibit called "Gifts in Honor of the Fifieth Anniversary." The show will end Nov. 4. In the spring of 1973, the Morgan's director, Charles Ryskamp, began to ask some of the Morgan Fellows whether they...

The Theatre UNHORSED by Brendan Gill.

The Talk of the Town Bandwagon by Anthony Hiss. Talk. E.M. Frimbo, world's greatest train buff, reports from Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp's special campaign train. The big innovation in political campaigns this fall is Trains. Gov. Shapp, a Democrat, is running for reelection on a pro-railroad ticket. He is campaigning against a new plan--which will soon be...

Poetry Noon by Helen Chasin. Halfway...

Poetry To His Skeleton by Richard Wilbur. Why will you vex me with...

Poetry Monstrance by Kenneth Rosen. I was so grateful for the music of the violin...