Comment Comment, Pt. I by William Finnegan. Comment on the aftermath of the riots in Los Angeles. Bush, who had been struggling to find the right tone for his response to the Rodney King verdict and the riots, actually seemed relieved to be playing again, if only briefly, the role of Commander-in-Chief. He announced, "There...

Comment Comment, Pt. II by Robert Gottlieb. Comment on the funeral services for Marlene Dietrich. The first of Dietrich's two funeral services was held in Paris, where she had spent the last 15 years of her life. It took place May 14th, in the Madeleine--the church built by Napoleon to honor his Grande Armee--and the...

The Talk of the Town Protein Source by Mark Singer. Talk story about 100th anniversary dinner of the New York Entomological Society held at the Explorers Club. Among the items served were cricket-and-vegetable tempura, mealworm balls in zesty tomato sauce, roasted Australian kurrajong grubs, and roast beef with gravy. Writer spoke with Marialisa Calta, of Eating Well, who...

The Talk of the Town Investigation by Susan Lardner. Talk story about the writer's friend Janet, who left three messages on her answering machine: (1) "I'm under investigation. Call me." (2) "Five hundred and eighty dollars' worth of stamps and no order number. Call me when you get in." (3)"There's a new twist to my being investigated. The...

Fiction Eye On by George W. S. Trow. Casual in script form which spoofs eye-witness news programs. Ray Battle, dressed in pajamas and carrying a stuffed toy, "to soften the effect" of his normal garb, reports on how "soft" features use up money that could be used for defense. "For instance," says Battle, "one network spent billions...

Fiction A Nurse by Ellen Cooney. The narrator, Mary Ann Baird, 12, recounts the events of a particular day when she took care of her 4 younger sisters, while her mother, a nurse, worked the night shift; she then went with her mother, while her mother washed the body of a dead man. Almy Timko, the...

Annals of Crime I-A VIOLENT ACT by Alec Wilkinson. ANNALS OF CRIME about the life and murderous crime spree of Mike Wayne Jackson. On Monday, Sep. 22, 1986--in Indianapolis, Jackson had murdered his probation officer with a shotgun when the officer, Tom Gahl, came to the door of his house. Fleeing from the murder, Jackson attempted to rob...

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

Reflections THE KIROV by Elizabeth Kendall. REFLECTIONS on the Kirov Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia. The Kirov used to value seniority in dancers, priding itself on a tradition passed down from dancer to dancer through generations: it saw itself as one of the few surviving symbols of St. Petersburg's pre-Revolutionary neoclassical culture. But today the...

Around City Hall Two Cities by Andy Logan. The fact that this city did not explode had a highly beneficial influence on the political standing of New York's mayor, David Dinkins, who in February had had a 26% approval rating in the polls. The sharp improvement in his reception by the public and in the press was demonstrated...

Books by Naomi Bliven.

The Film File Lethal Weapon 3 by Michael Sragow. When that manic L.A.P.D. detective Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) visits the home of rough-and-ready I.A.D. cop Lorna Cole (Rene Russo), he notices that her personal computer contains Three Stooges software. Moe, Larry, and Curly, who showed up in a film clip in “LM2,” have become the guiding spirits of the...

Poetry La Tristesse by James Laughlin. And Pound in his despair in the Army prison camp at Pisa...

Poetry Freundschaft by Julia Kasdorf. poem opens with following quotation from the Bible: Be ye not unequally...

Poetry Alchemist by Leonard Nathan. As in the cartoon the vengeful fat boy...