Comment by Adam Gopnik. Comment about Canada's national health care system, which American politicians, such as Pres. Bush, Rep. Newt Gingrich, and Sen. Paul Tsongas have denigrated. Writer talked with Dr. Samuel O. Freedman, the director of the research institute at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, and the former dean of the medical...

The Talk of the Town Stretching by Mindy Aloff. Talk story about Gregory Peck's experience as a student of Martha Graham. Peck, honored this month by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, was interviewed at the Fitzpatrick Manhattan, where he was staying. Fifty years ago, he studied with Graham for two years in a Neighborhood Playhouse class. Graham was...

The Talk of the Town Stuff by David Owen. Talk story about an exhibit of three dozen collections of such things as stamps and bottle caps, called "Great Stuff!," at the Children's Museum of Manhattan on W. 83rd St. Among the displays is five-year-old Daniel Low's collection of objects with holes in them...

Fiction His Mother Inside Him by John Updike. Reflective story about Allen Dow and his realization, at age 60, of how completely his mother informs his inner life and his actions. Begins with a description of his mother's temper (Allen remembers his father cowering under the dining table while his mother tried to slap at him), and how...

Fiction Charades by Lorrie Moore. Therese is with her family for Christmas in Bethesda, Maryland, where her parents have recently moved. Therese's younger brother Andrew and his wife Pam and their daughter live nearby. It is the tail end of Christmas, hours before Therese and her husband Ray have to leave. The family is playing...

Annals of Science II-A SILENT CHILDHOOD by Russ Rymer. ANNALS OF SCIENCE about Genie, an abused child who was incarcerated by her father for 11 1/2 of the first 13 years of her life in a silent room. She could not speak when she was rescued, and only learned to talk when she reached the hospital. Tells about the...

The Theatre EEENY, MEENY, MINEY by Edith Oliver.

The Current Cinema by Terrence Rafferty.

Our Far-Flung Correspondents ONE-RING MUD SHOW by David Owen. OUR FAR-FLUNG CORRESPONDENTS about Vidbel's Olde Tyme Circus, a small tent show that plays one-night stands in the Northeast. Billy Martin is the ringmaster. His wife, Angela, is an aerialist. He grew up in Olean, NY, and began training as a ringmaster at age 13, with James M...

Letter from Washington by Elizabeth Drew. Joylessly, the Democratic Party is beginning to coalesce around its now undisputed front-runner. Democrats' doubts that Bill Clinton can surmount his own problems sufficiently to defeat George Bush are giving way to the reality that there is no other viable candidate in the field... The Clintons' troubles have been...

Poetry The Insult by C. K. Williams. Even here, in a forest in the foothills of a range of...

Poetry Prospect Park, Holy Week by Julia Kasdorf. The mean swan has returned to the pond...

Poetry The Dead by Charles Simic. They were white like the stones in the meadow...