The Talk of the Town Dinner Party by Susan Lardner. Janet talk story about a dinner party she gave. Janet tells writer she's decided to quit her job. At her age, it's not called quitting, its called retiring. Everybody says, 'Wait, get another job first.'... I'm thinking of putting an ad in the paper: 'Elderly women with no degree wants...

Comment by Harold Brodkey. A friend writes: Travellers' advisories offer cautions about weather & perhaps the weather of the spirit needs advisories, too. I think visitors to Manhattan should be given warning that the city poses certain hazards to your mood, your sense of the world. For instance, in midtown at midday, most color...

The Current Cinema NOT FOR THE AGES by Pauline Kael.

Jazz CAROL SLOANE AND JULIE WILSON by Whitney Balliett. PROFILE of Carol Sloane and Julie Wilson. Sloan is a jazz singer; Wilson is a cabaret singer. She's thin, elegant, and has two signatures; she pulls her hair back severely into a bun, and wears a sizable gardenia over her left ear. She's known for her regular work in the...

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

American Chronicles GOLDBERG CAN GO HOME AGAIN by Calvin Trillin. AMERICAN CHRONICLES about Larry(Fats)Goldberg, of Kansas City. A couple of years ago, Goldberg, who lived in NYC for more than 20 years, started talking a lot about going back home to Kansas City, Missouri... Tells, about his own restaurant, Goldberg's Pizzeria, which he received an attractive offer for...

The Theatre MR. WILSON AND MR. JONES by Edith Oliver.

The Talk of the Town Sinatra by Adam Gopnik. Talk story about Sid Mark's radio show"Saturday with Sinatra"which he has presented on WYNY every Saturday night for the past 7 years... For a while, Sid always broadcast the program live on Saturday night. But a recent press of business has forced him to tape the program on...

Books by William McKibben.

The Talk of the Town La Chaine des Rotisseurs by Nancy Ramsey. Talk story about a party at the Pierre Hotel on March 15, 1987 given by La Chaine des Rotisseurs. The Chaine (a gourmet society dating from the time of Louis IX) is now active in a hundred and twenty-two countries. This is the second annual View from the Vineyards...

Fiction January by Donald Barthelme. This is an interview with Thomas Breaker, a fictional character. Towards the end of the interview, the interviewer seems to have disappeared and Brecker is talking without being questioned. The interview took place on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands where Brecker was renting a villa. At 65, he...

Fiction Faux Pas by Elizabeth Tallent. In England, Kyra, a married American woman with a 5-year-old son, is with her English lover, Brian. Her husband Charlie had taken their son to Stonehenge with another American father and son for the night and the next day. She and Charlie had been together since he was...

Annals of Law I-THE BETAMAX CASE by James Lardner. ANNALS OF LAW about whether home video recording from television is an infringement of copyright law. In Sept., 1976 Sidney Sheinberg, the pres. of Universal Pictures & its parent company M.C.A., learned about Sony's Betamax, which was used to videotape television programs. He thought it was a violation of copyright...

Poetry Ghost Four Poems by Nina Cassian. A rug of dead butterflies at my feet...