Books by John Updike.

A Reporter at Large THE GREAT EXCEPTION I-LIBERTY by Lawrence Weschler. REPORTER AT LARGE about Uruguay & their repressive military dictatorship which lasted 12 years beginning in 1973. In 1903 Jose Batlle y Ordonez became Pres. & established a progressive social democracy. The country prospered & the military played a marginal role. In the 50s prices & exports began sliding. The...

Dancing by Arlene Croce.

Comment by William Finnegan. Comment about the El Salvadorian Presidential election, which was held Mar. 19. The right-wing Arena party won the election. Pretty much everyone in El Salvador understands by now, though that the extraordinary cataract of American aid--more than 3 billion dollars into this small, poor country of 5 million...

The Talk of the Town Family Business by Mark Singer. Talk Story about Benjamin & Paul Steinitz, owners of the Prusunic Gallery on 13th Street in the meat packing district. Bernard Ackerman owns a kosher butcher store across the street from the Prisunic Gallery. His store is called Moriah Kosher. Ackerman commutes everyday from Monroe in Orange County to the...

The Talk of the Town International Beauty Show by Michael Stern. Talk Story about the 1989 International Beauty Show held at the Javits Convention Center. The Chadwicks are the authors of "The Chadwick System: Discovering the Perfect Hairstyle for You." They were the biggest-name guest artists at the I.B.S. The Chadwicks, who are the duke & duchess of the international...

Annals of Lexicography THE DICTIONARY FACTORY by Israel Shenker. ANNALS OF LEXICOGRAPHY about the history of the Oxford English Dictionary & about the new Second Edition, which incorporates the supplement & 5,000 new words. The dictionary began in 1856, a century after Samuel Johnson published his dictionary, when Richard Chenevix Trench, Dean of Westminster delivered a paper to the...

Fiction Dry by Randy Cohen. This story is headed by a quote from "The Times" about waterlogged documents being dried out in a special vacuum tank. Writer tells about Mr. D'Achinda, an immigrant from a Latin American country (probably), and his business success. He is a document reprocessor specializing in the safe, thorough drying of...

Fiction News of the World by Louis Berney. Frank Borden pursues & reports sensational stories from Europe for a tabloid newspaper. From time to time he receives dispatches from home--letters from his son, his ex-wife's lawyers. One day when his mother-in-law calls to tell him that his beloved dog Raoul Duke has died, he...

The Theatre WINTER WONDERLAND by Mimi Kramer.

The Current Cinema TOO HIP BY HALF by Pauline Kael.

The Talk of the Town International Beauty Show by Jane Stern. Talk Story about the International Beauty Show. The 1989 show, sponsored by the magazine "American Salon" and the National Cosmetology Association, was held at the Javits Convention Center & drew 70,000 people for 3 days of hair-dressing demonstrations & competitions, beauty seminars & displays put on by 500 companies...

Poetry Ein Leben by Dan Pagis. In the month of her death, she is standing by the window...

Poetry Aubade by Robert Mazzocco. Listening to bird song in a blue dawn...

Poetry Life in the Valley by Mark Strand. Like many brilliant notions--easy to understand...