Dancing by Alastair Macaulay.

Fiction Private Lesson by Lindsley Cameron. The American Mrs. Longo, 22, tries to teach Mr. Takahashi, 17, English at the Dorodarake Special English High School in Japan. Mrs. Longo has no teaching experience, but her husband accepted a teaching position in Japan the morning they were married, and told her of his decision after their wedding...

Profiles HEIGHT'S DELIGHT by Penelope Gilliatt. PROFILE of John Cleese, English actor and writer best known for "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and the movies which followed from it and the 1975 TV series "Fawlty Towers". The Monty Python shows were created by Cleese and five of his friends, beginning in 1969. "Fawlty Towers" was written by...

The Current Cinema ART TOUR by Pauline Kael.

Fiction History by Donald Hall. When the knife slipped and cut deeply into the fingerpad as he whittled a stick or trimmed ham from the bone, at first he felt nothing, aware only of the nearly insensible line on the skin. Always he imagined for one heartbeat that he might undo the error and prevent...

Books by George Steiner.

Fiction The Solar Yearbook by Mark O'Donnell. Illustrated story which shows drawings of nine planets as though they were photographs of individuals in a yearbook;under each drawing are various quotes describing the planets as though they were people. Mercury's description includes, "Small, dark and speedy... 'Race you round the furnace!' ...No moon and doesn't want one...

The Talk of the Town H.R.H. by Brendan Gill. Talk story about His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, who came to town a few days ago to take part in the annual benefit tea party of the Victorian Society in America, and to give an address launching a new hands-across-the-sea organization called American Friends of...

The Talk of the Town Cellist by Cynthia Zarin. A talk story about Matt Haimovitz, who is 17 & has been playing the cello since he was 8. He is in his junior year at Collegiate, a school that doesn't have a reputation for making life easy for its students. Tells about a concert tour to Italy. "What I...

A Reporter at Large SACRED PLACE by Anthony Bailey. REPORTER AT LARGE about Viraj Mendis, who has been living in sanctuary in the sacristy of the Anglican Church of the Ascension, in the Hulme district of Manchester, England. He has been there for the last 16 months to avoid being deported to his native land, Sri Lanka. Viraj is...

The Talk of the Town Auction by Tad Friend. Talk story about Alan Ira Rosenberg, a 34-year-old freelance journalist and P.R. man who lives in Portland, Maine, and yearns to be a published novelist. One night, unable to sleep, wondering how he could persuade publishers to buy his new novel, "Run Red Riding Hood Run," when they...

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

The Talk of the Town The Pink-Headed Duck by George W. S. Trow. Talk story about a slide show in a loft & writer's friend, Rory Nuguent. If the world ended, writer would want to be with his friend Rory, because he would figure out a way for it not to end--up to a point that is. He'd gravitate to the small...

Comment by Michael J. Arlen. Comment about the genetic breakthrough involving the mouse, at Harvard -- the New Mouse, which these Harvard scientists have fabricated, which is evoking a great deal of concern. Writer overhears a woman ask the same question he would ask, "Once they start doing mice, who's to think they're going to stop...

The Sporting Scene A HEART FOR THE GAME by Roger Angell. THE SPORTING SCENE about spring training... Writer tours the March camps in Arizona & Florida. In Arizona writer first looked up Tony Gwynn, the Padres' chunky, cheerful outfielder, who is, at 27, the least-celebrated great hitter in the game. At times, Gwynn seemed almost apologetic about his .370 hitting...

Poetry I See by Revan Schendler. I see the lights...