The Talk of the Town Vibration by Katy Butler. Talk story about the chanting of Gyuto monks. It takes a leap of the imagination to describe the chanting as song, or even as music. Tells about the sound-a deep growling. For almost 500 years, in ceremonies in Lhasa, Tibet, that sometimes lasted for days the monks visualized deities...

The Current Cinema GHOSTS by Pauline Kael.

Fiction War With Japan by Frederick Barthelme. George decides to move into the garage apartment behind the house because he's "starting up" again, getting agitated about eveything. He tells Lily, his wife, that he's tired in a new way&that something's snapped. Their 12 year old son Charles is part of the problem. Lily thinks George...

The Talk of the Town Editor by Adam Gopnik. Talk story about zines or science fiction fan magazines, & an interview with the editor of "Grip", one such zine, named Roberta Rogow. A zine is a collection of photocopied stories & pictures, staple-bound in a colored-paper cover. Since many of the stories in zines regularly include characters...

The Talk of the Town Swine Bowl by Brendan Dealy. Talk Story about the 35th Annual Swine Touch Football Game--held as it has been for tha last 28 years, in Central Park on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Meatball Hertz, a professor of French literature at the University of Hartford, is one of the swine bowlers...

Profiles A GENTLE REIGN by Susan Orlean. PROFILE of Kwabena Oppong, who is the king and supreme ruler of the African Ashanti tribespeople living in the U.S...

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

Letter from Washington by Elizabeth Drew. Geo. Bush's victory, a solid one in terms of numbers, is largely seen as inevitable. All but lost are the probable lasting effects of the election & the surprisingly strong finish Michael Dukakis made. The interesting thing is that Dukakis came close at all. Bush seemed to have everything going...

The Theatre DIRECTOR'S TRAGEDY by Mimi Kramer.

Dancing by Arlene Croce.

Comment by Barry Paris. Comment about Estonia. Tells about the history of the nation, which was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, invaded by the Germans in 1941, & "liberated" by Stalin. This case history suggests how national identities have persisted within the Soviet Union & explains the not so-dormant hostility of...

Poetry The Two Scenes in Color by Elizabeth Macklin. Smelling of pinks, its light thrown crosswise as if...

Poetry No Can Do by Lisa Walker. All You Can Do Is All You Can Do, But All You...

Poetry Look Closer by May Swenson. The petals and leaves look much alike, in shape...