Fiction Canine Chateau by Veronica Geng. Parody in the form of a letter to Secretary of Defense Weinberger from Jeff Chateau, the President of Canine Chateau where Tuffy, a defense-contractor's dog, was housed for a week. Chateau is writing in answer to Weinberger's request for details about the "nauseating" and "preposterous" bill run up by...

The Talk of the Town Phone Calls by James Stevenson. Illustrated Talk story about three telephone booths across from Times Square, where writer watched people make telephone calls one morning. Two men with ropes hanging from their belts(mountaineers? Window-washers?)took turns using one of the phones. No. luck. A tall fellow darted in&made a quick call...

Books by John Updike.

Comment by Jonathan Schell. In a striking article in the "Times Magazine" the other Sunday, Joseph Lelyveld reports that in conversations with some young people around the country about the war in Vietnam he found their impressions of it to be remarkably dim. We were reminded of all the talk not so many years...

The Talk of the Town Actual and Proposed by William McKibben. Second part of a two-part Talk story, about Claude Samton's proposal to turn the pedestrian tunnel that runs from Herald Square to Forty-Second Street into a lower-level sidewalk and shopping mall. The tunnel, which is usually almost deserted, was created when the subway was installed in place...

Letter from Europe by Jane Kramer. In England there was a coal miners strike that begain in Mar., 1984 and ended 51 weeks later in Mar., 1985. Writer visited the county of Durham, a coal mining area. Durham changed bishops (in the Church of England) during the strike. The new bishop was David Jenkins. Dr. Jenkins...

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

Profiles GETTING EVERYTHING IN by Calvin Tomkins. PROFILE of Jennifer Bartlett, born in 1941, one of the most widely exhibited artists of her generation. She grew up in Long Beach, Calif., and now lives half the year in New York and the other half in Paris, with her husband, French actor Mathieu Carriere. She entered Mills College...

The Talk of the Town Cat by Emily Hahn. Talk story about a press conference given at a restaurant called The Ballroom, by the Mighty Cat scented litter company, which featured an appearance by Gene and Rusti Schuler, and a Siberian tiger named Mighty Cat. The Schulers are the proprietors of the Wild Animal Retirement Village, in Waldo, Florida...

The Theatre by Edith Oliver.

Books by John Updike.

Fiction The Chosen Husband by Mavis Gallant. Mme. Carette was a widow who lived in Montreal with her 2 daughters, Berthe who was 22&Marie, who was 20. When she inherited $18,000 from her brother-in-law, Mme. Carette moved to a better address. She was barely 45, but worried about dying&about what would...

Anniversary Comment by Jonathan Schell. In recent weeks, preceding and following the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach's birthday, on Mar. 21st, Bach's music has been flooding the world... Describes listening to the Fifth "Brandenburg" Concerto. As the piece proceeds, the flute & violin seem to retire gradually from prominence, until finally they fall silent...

A Reporter in Washington by Elizabeth Drew. The Reagan Administration has been forced to face certain cold realities. The battles that have already occured over aid to farmers, the MX missile, struggle over the budget&aid to the Contras in Nicaragua are all indications of the politics of the 2nd term-with a battle over tax...

Poetry Abandoned Poems by Katha Pollitt. It's awful how they look at you: consumptives...

Poetry Day Ghosts by A. R. Ammons. Spring thaw peels loose...