The Theatre "East Lynne" on Skates by Brendan Gill.

The Talk of the Town Shakespeare in Concord by Lillian Ross. Talk story about a visit to Concord, N.H. earlier this month, where writer attended a two-hour meeting of 133 citizens at the Havenwood retirement community, where Richard Lederer was giving a seminar on "A Brief History of the English Language Up to Shakespeare and Insights into the Bard's Personal...

The Talk of the Town Gizmos in Las Vegas by James Lardner. Talk story about the International Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, filling the entire Las Vegas Convention Center&large sections of the nearby Riveria, Sahara& Hilton hotels. More than 90,000 people attended the show, which claims to be"the biggest annual trade show in the world."Writer...

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

A Political Journal by Elizabeth Drew. An analysis of President Reagan's State of the Union Speech & the opening of his reelection campaign. The President's Advisers expect a tight election between Reagan&Walter Mondale, who is assumed to be the democratic candidate. Reagan's speech was on economic recovery, "seeing if we can't find room in...

Fiction Slippage by John Updike. Harrison, age 60, woke up one morning as a not quite slight earthquake shook the room. His wife did not stir. She was much younger than he, and found his interest in the earthquake irritating. Harrison was a history professor, and he concluded his survey course on European history that...

Fiction The New Thing by Veronica Geng. Story about the writer's new relationship, which is being compared constantly to the old "Saturday Night Live" TV show. Writer decides not to worry that she sounds too much like the stars of that show, because if they eliminated everything about SNL from their lives, they would have eliminated all...

The Talk of the Town Mushers in the Adirondacks by William McKibben. Talk story about the Alpo International Sled Dog Championships, at Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks. Writer went to the Mushers' Ball and the racing events. Sled-dog racing has not gained the national recognition of some other sports, but not for lack of enthusiasm by its enthusiasts. Many of the...

Fiction Body English by Saul Steinberg. Four abstract drawings captioned: "Sigh"; "Giggle"; "Gasp"; "Blink...

Comment by Garrison Keillor. Comment about an imaginary telephone call to Copenhagen. A phone-company ad the writer saw a couple of weeks ago said: "Call Europe $1.42. Additional minutes are only 80 cents each." The ad gave a number to call for international information. He called it and got the number of a...

Reflections WEAPONS AND HOPE III-PEOPLE by Freeman Dyson. REFLECTIONS about nuclear weapons - divided into six sections, each with a title. The first "Amateurs at War" tells about the strong, unquestioning patriotism of WWI, followed by a reaction of revulsion at the horror of the conflict. In "Scientists and Poets" writer wonders how supposedly sane people with the stink...

The Current Cinema COMEDY, EPIC, SITCOM by Pauline Kael.

Books by William Maxwell. BOOKS review of Eudora Welty’s “One Writer’s Beginnings...

Poetry Down By the Station, Early in the Morning by John Ashbery. It all wears out. I keep telling myself this, but I can...

Poetry Weekend by Howard Moss. Fridays, executives flock to their chateaux...