Comment by Jeffrey Toobin. Comment about the finale of the Iran-Contra affair and the pardon of Caspar Weinberger and five other former high officials. Writer suggests that the pardons were wrong and that the War Powers Act should be rewritten...

The Talk of the Town George's Choice by Jeffrey Toobin. Mentioned, in a Talk story about Dennis G. Jacobs, a new judge on the Second Circuit. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is often called the second most important court in the nation. It rules on all appeals from the federal trial courts in N.Y., Connecticut, and...

The Talk of the Town Bill and the King by Jeffrey Frank. A Talk story about the Elvis imitator who will be part of the Inaugural Parade. Julie Gibson, the Inaugural Parade director, declares that the decision to include one came about by chance. OWe didn't go out searching for Elvis impersonators, but we got several inquiries from all over the country...

The Talk of the Town Ways of Escape by Alexander Chancellor. Talk story about Salman Rushdie's continuing exile under an Iranian death sentence. Rushdie's hope is that Clinton will take his case seriously as a human-rights issue and put American pressure on Iran to get the death sentence lifted. "The most important thing of all in my mind is to...

The Talk of the Town Party Madness by Patrick Brogan. Talk story about the unpleasant aspects, in general, of inaugural balls...

The Talk of the Town Scottish Horrors by Brendan Gill. Talk story about the catalogue for "Voices of Scotland,O a current exhibition at the Grolier Club on East 60th St. Writer mentions excerpts from the catalogue, written by Janet Saint Germain. The exhibit showcases Scottish manuscripts and books, ranging in time from the dawn of the 15th century to...

Onward and Upward with the Arts MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING by Lawrence Weschler. ONWARD AND UPWARD WITH THE ARTS about J.S.G. Boggs, whose "Project: Pittsburgh" involves the spending of a million dollars of Boggs's art. It looks like money on one side, and on the other has thumb-print spaces for five people to mark after they have exchanged the bill. The Treasury...

Business THE BATTLE OF THE BAILOUT by John Newhouse. ANNALS OF BUSINESS about the proposed British Airways-USAir bailout, in which for $750 million BA would acquire 44% of the ownership of USAir, but only 21% of the voting stock. It would acquire a blocking minority share, however, and US Airlines opposed the deal, successfully. BA is currently one...

A Reporter at Large A LOST MOTHERHOOD by Susan Sheehan. A REPORTER AT LARGE about a multi-generational black family and the welfare system that supported them. Tells about the lives of Crystal Taylor (pseud.), who had a child at the age of fourteen, and was placed in the welfare system as a result, along with her son and her...

Storyboard REALLY ROSIE by Maurice Sendak. STORYBOARD describing the efforts of Maurice Sendak to start a children's-theatre production company called the Night Kitchen, showing drawings from the first production, a musical by Sendak and Carole King called "Really Rosie...

Postscript RUDOLF NUREYEV by Arlene Croce. Obituary of Rudolf Nureyev, who died last week at the age of fifty-four. Tells about his contributions to modern ballet...

Fiction The Voyage Out by John Rolfe Gardiner. Tony Hoskins, an English boy, is sent by ship to Canada during the Second World War. On the trip over, Rasson-Pier, the boy in a higher form whom he bunks with, falls overboard while doing a handstand on the railing. He may be trying to impress a gypsy girl...

Artist's Notebook DR. KING by Josh Gosfield. ARTIST'S NOTEBOOK commemorating the sixty-fourth birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who died at the age of thirty-nine. King a Gandhian and a Christian pacifist, committed a beleaguered movement to nonviolent struggle. This was hardly the course advocated by a more radical black leadership, which scoffed...

Musical Events by Paul Griffiths.

The Theatre ALL THE WAY TO HEAVEN by John Lahr.

Books by John Updike.

Books by Helen Vendler.

Shouts & Murmurs THE CHEESE STANDS ALONE by Veronica Geng. SHOUTS AND MURMURS about cheese etiquette. Will President Clinton become bogged down in political debts owed to Party bosses, heavy-hitter campaign contributors, labor leaders, early supporters, and prominent Democrats who didn't hold grudges against him when they could have (i.e., Governor Mario Cuomo)? Not if Clinton makes good use...

Poetry Farewell by Mark Strand. It is true, as someone has said, that in...

Poetry A Mourner by Ruth Fainlight. I put my head on my arms on my desk...

Poetry Rapture by Galway Kinnell. I can feel she has got out of bed...