Musical Events Wondrous Machines by Nicholas Kenyon.

Books Closeups by Whitney Balliett.

Profiles II - Eye of the Storm by Robert Shaplen. PROFILE of David Newsom, highest-ranking Foreign Service officer in the State Department. Tells about the complicated effort to free the Americans held captive in Iran since last November. Discusses the aborted commando raid late in April to rescue them. Those who directed it thought the chaotic conditions in Iran...

The Current Cinema Devolution by Pauline Kael. Lengthy, full-column review of Stanley Kubrick's film "The Shining...

Comment by John McPhee. A Harvard student whose special interest is animal behavior sent a note to a family friend who tried for two days, without success, to find him and invite him to lunch. He apologized for his elusiveness and set forth several diverting facts about armadillos. Armadillos are relative newcomers to North...

The Theatre In the Theatre by Elizabeth Hawes. Talk story about Yoji Aoi, a Japanese actor-dancer-singer-translator-playwright who was recently in New York for a few weeks to view shows, concerts and films, to study dance, and to meet with theatrical agents. Over the past several years, on Mr. Aoi's recommendation and by grace of...

The Talk of the Town Recess by Joan Bennet. Talk story about recess at the P.S. 75 playground on 96th Street near Riverside Drive About 200 kids in the third to sixth grades were playing there. A young man named Doug Wilson was supervising. He has been security guard at P.S. 75 for 8 years. Describes the playground, the...

The Theatre Ace by Edith Oliver.

Comment by Peter Bingham. A Harvard student whose special interest is animal behavior sent a note to a family friend, apologizing for his elusiveness and setting forth several diverting facts about armadillos. Armadillos are relative newcomers to North America. They are predominantly insectivorous and are in demand for research on leprosy, as they are...

Fiction A Giant Step for Mankind by Woody Allen. Writer is lunching with a playwright friend who suddenly clutches his throat, turns blue, and collapses. Fortunately, someone recognizes the universal choking signal and performs the Heimlich Maneuver, described on a Board of Health notice affixed to the restaurant wall. Writer wonders if Dr. Heimlich knew how close he came...

The Talk of the Town Beach Time by Susan Lardner. Talk story about writer's going to Fire Island at the start of the beach season, on the Friday before Memorial Day. Arriving at the ferry boat ticket booth at Bay Shore, and discovering that she has an hour and a half before the departure of the next ferry, the writer...

Poetry A Pause by the Water by W. S. Merwin. After the days of walking alone in mountains...

Poetry The Jubilee Boy by Sergei Dovlatov. Dovlatov, the narrator is a writer for a newspaper in the town...