The Talk of the Town Bikes by Mark Singer. Talk story about Stuyvesant Bicycle, a bicycle store on East 13th St. The store is owned by Tony and Sal Corso, and, on any given day, carries an inventory of about ten thousand bikes--from a Bob Jackson racer that costs about $1600 to a ten-speed Maino that sells...

A Reporter at Large The Encircled River~II by John McPhee. A REPORTER AT LARGE about exploring the Salmon River of the Brooks Range, in Alaska, and the surrounding terrain to consider including them in a national park. Jack Hession, the Sierra Club's only salaried full-time representative in Alaska, joined the four-man state-federal study team as an observer...

The Talk of the Town Foley's Return by Judy Mellecker. Talk story about a gathering of bird-watchers at the Central Park Boathouse to honor the return of Officer Dennis Foley to patrol in Central Park. Officer Foley was a favorite with bird-watchers because he conscientiously patrolled the densely wooded area that attracts birds, bird-watchers, and muggers. The...

Fiction I Embrace the New Candor by George W. S. Trow. Today I have been particularly candid. I have expressed candid thoughts about the Right to Life movement and the new high-energy Golf Classics and..... Also, I have issued a no-holds-barred report on my last remaining friend, Bob Mern... I am Jack Duff, and I am the founder...

Obituary Ring Nason by Julie Hayden. Obituary of Ring Nason, who was found dead Thursday before last (Apr. 21), at the age of twenty-two. He had worked here, on and off, in our Messengers' Room ...and played in our weekly late-afternoon softball game in the Central Park Sheep Meadow in the summer...

Comment by Veronica Geng. People who used to extract sympathy from their friends by complaining "I don't get to spend any time with the President" are out of luck. Lately, spending time with the President has been a snap. At the invitation of "Time" and NBC-TV millions of guests spent two days with...

Letter from Washington by Richard H. Rovere. There are some who believe that Pres. Carter proclaimed the energy crisis early in his tenure to test his capacity for leadership. There were elements of both statesmanship & political savvy in his decision to issue his call for austerity before he had completed 3 months in office. If it...

Comment by Ian Frazier. A letter from a friend about paying income taxes. One reason he finds it a depressing experience is that it occurs when the leaves have just come out and the streams have warmed up, and it slices across this mood of new beginnings to write out big checks for a...

Fiction Puttermesser: Her Work History, Her Ancestry, Her Afterlife by Cynthia Ozick. Puttermesser was 34, a woman, and a lawyer. Immediately after law school, she entered the firm of Midland, Reid & Cockleberry, a blueblood Wall Street firm. Although she was not the only Jew, she was the only woman there. Tells how the male Jews in the firm, despite their outward...

The Talk of the Town Model U.N. by Ian Frazier. Talk story about the National Model United Nations,, held at the Statler Hilton, and attended by over 1200 students Scorn 116 colleges and universities. Each of the colleges or universities represented a different country, and the delegations attended plenary sessions and met in committees. Each day, events began at 9:30...

Books Of Cabinets and Kings by Naomi Bliven.

The Current Cinema Humbug by Penelope Gilliatt. Review of "Jabberwocky" directed by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam. The world of this film is very like the world of the films of the Python lot...

Dept. of Amplification by Ved Mehta. DEPARTMENT OF AMPLIFICATION about Indira Gandhi's defeat in the March elections. The opposition to Mrs. Gandhi formed the Janata Party a coalition of most of the major non-Communist opposition parties; the old-guard splinter of the Congress Party which Mrs. Gandhi had routed in 1969; Bharatiya Lok Dal; Jana...

Musical Events What the Composers Wanted by Andrew Porter.

The Theatre Off Broadway by Edith Oliver.

Profiles THE WESTCHESTER KIDS by Whitney Balliett. PROFILE of Bob Wilber, 49, jazz clarinettist and soprano saxophonist, arranger and composer. Writer talks to Wilber in his parents' home in Orleans, Cape Cod. Wilber tells how he pursued his interest in jazz from the time he was a teenager growing up in Scarsdale. He and his friends would...

Comment by Jonathan Schell. Not long after Pres. Carter revealed his energy proposal to Congress & the nation, a TV commentator remarked "He's asking every congressman in his party to vote against the interests of his own constituents." This brought to mind a distinction concerning self-interest & morality made by Immanuel Kant in...

Poetry The Shore by David St. John. So the tide forgets, as morning...

Poetry To The Nightingale by Jorge Luis Borges. Out of what secret English summer evening...

Poetry Parent by Josephine Miles. Letting down the isinglass curtains...