Fiction A Good Loser by Elizabeth Cullinan. Ann, the narrator, is 38, and works for an ad agency in New York City. When she was 26, she lived in Dublin for 2 years. She returns for a 1-month visit after having been away from Ireland for 10 years. Ann stays in Hope Hazlitt's house outside of...

The Current Cinema Japanese Friends, a German Agent Provocateur by Penelope Gilliatt. Review of the Japanese film "Sandakan 8", directed by Kei Kumai...

Comment by Richard Harris. The Son of Sam has killed six people, wounded seven, and sold a lot of newspapers. The press, esepcially the N.Y. "Post" and the N.Y. "Daily News", has made the situation worse. By transforming the killer into a celebrity, the press has not merely encouraged but perhaps driven him to...

Cartoon Subways by Lou Myers. Six drawings showing imaginary scenes outside subway entrances...

The Talk of the Town Buffett by Mark Singer. Talk story about Jimmy Buffett, 30-year-old songwriter and singer. His music has been called "shrimpboat rock", although "shrimpboat country rock" comes closer to it. He was in New York last week for a concert at Wollman Rink, in Central Park. The concert was rained out but re-scheduled...

The Talk of the Town Rafts by James Stevenson. Talk story about the Third Annual Great Connecticut River Raft Race, starting in Deep River, Conn. Pat Quinn, captain of the raft Morning Star II and of Morning Star III, which won the race in 1976 and 1977, works at Pratt Read. The raft has a papier mache dragon with...

Musical Events Concert Records by Winthrop Sargeant.

Around City Hall Friends in Need by Andy Logan. Discussion of the aftermath of the blackout. Last month, lightning hit six upstate power-transmission lines and Con Edison's inability to cope with the emergency led to a 25-hour local blackout during which a number of neighborhoods in poorer sections of the city were looted and burned by people...

The Race Track Saratoga Surprise by G. F. T. Ryall. The Saratoga clubhouse has a new look. The stand has been lengthened by a hundred feet and has been given a more impressive entrance. There is much more room on the veranda for patrons who come to lunch & remain at their tables for the rest of the afternoon. Horses...

A Reporter at Large SCALLOPING by James Stevenson. A REPORTER AT LARGE about scalloping in the waters off Cape Cod. Writer accompanied John Tuttle and Henry Stout, who own a scalloping boat, Sniktaw III, on a fishing trip. They left port at Chatham, Mass., where Stout and Tuttle live, and headed for a scallop bed near the Boston...

U. S. Journal A SOFTBALL, A LUMP by Calvin Trillin. U.S. JOURNAL: NEBRASKA. Writer knows three young lawyers in Omaha who are aware of the state's limitations as a gastromomic capital - all of them having at one time or another tasted the delights of Kansas City, where the writer grew up. The lawyers are: Michael Fenner, John E. Smith and...

The Talk of the Town Herbs by Judy Mellecker. Talk story about symposium at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its Herb Garden. The celebration, titled Herbs, was presented by the Brooklyn garden and the Herb Society of America(New York Unit), Tells about the first session, Herbs and Their Uses, in the auditorium of...

Books Unsentimental Education by George Steiner.

Fiction The Night of the Gifts by Jorge Luis Borges. An old man tells how he was introduced to sex and death on the same day, when he was almost 13: He was staying at his cousin's ranch and was friendly with Rufino, one of the cowhands. Rufino takes him to a brothel in town. One of the women there...

Poetry Gravel by Howard Moss. The many here...

Poetry On Making His Bed One Morning by Elizabeth Libbey. I've considered light. I like better...

Poetry Hat of August by Alex Stevens. We have trimmed the night to the size of a wick...