Fiction The Papier-Mache Santa Claus by Linda Grace Hoyer. Ada's mother had set a papier-mache Santa Claus on the floor under the tree. His coat was sky blue and his face was that of a sober, thoughtful man. Her grandfather, who long ago must have been both sober and handsome, said to her, "Ada, there is no Santa...

Around City Hall Fast Friends by Andy Logan. It's thought the Pres. Ford's attack on N.Y. in the fall of 1975, at the time of the city's financial crisis, may have had much to do with his loss of the state's 41 electoral votes in the Presidential election. N.Y. is now firmly established to its own satisfaction - and...

Comment by Julie Hayden. Every year at this time, we find ourself shunning liko mad the wisdom of the Greek axiom.... "Nothing too much," or "Nothing in excess." "Everything in excess" is our personal belief concerning Christmastime. Writer asks 9-year-old Ricky "What, in your mind, is all this fuss about?" And after...

The Talk of the Town Survey by Mark Singer. Talk story about the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" For several months, Dr. Harvey Kaplan has interviewed children on behalf of a toy company that wants to know what the children want to be because the toy company, which makes a line of Wannabee...

Books Of Beauty and Consternation by John Updike.

The Talk of the Town Blues by James Stevenson. Talk story about Tom Waits, 26-year-old performer and composer whose material is mostly blues. Writer goes to My Father's Place, in Roslyn, Long Island, to watch him set up and perform to a full house. Between shows, Waits talks about himself: a high-school drop out from Los...

The Talk of the Town The Future by Ian Frazier. Talk story about meeting held by Futuristic Foods in the Renaissance Room of the Holiday Inn on W. 57th St. to interest guests-many of them young men dissatisfied with their jobs-in buying franchises in the corporation. Futuristic Foods runs Futuremart, a computer-coordinated home-delivery supermarket that offers...

Cartoon The Inquiring Demographer by Calvin Trillin. This Week's Question: Why Did You Decide To Get Married? Illustrated story. The above question is answered by: Nick Bowers, Computer Sales Rep, Manhattan (shown without wife, Bobbi Sue): Bobbi Sue and I got acquainted at a kind of swinging bar on First Avenue called Nooners. Penelope Shaughnessy-Underthaler, Researcher...

The Theatre THE TRIUMPH OF AVARICE by Brendan Gill.

Musical Events A Joyful Noise by Andrew Porter.

Fiction Under the Shrinking Royalty the Village Smithy Stands by S. J. Perelman. Travis Nuthatch, author who writes under the name of Israel Zangwill, goes to discuss his twelfth book with his editor, Mitchell Krakauer, at Diamond & Oyster, publishers. After considerable delay, he enters his editor's office which has been transformed into a blacksmith shop where Mr. Krakauer is hard at work...

The Race Track A Glance Back by G. F. T. Ryall. One of the year's disappointments was Bertram Firestone's Honest Pleasure, 1975's top two-year-old. Tells about him...

A Reporter at Large MOVING OUT, MOVING IN by James Stevenson. A REPORTER AT LARGE about the Carter transition team, in Washington, D.C. The transition headquarters is in the H.E.W. building(5th floor), and Congress has appropriated 2 million dollars for transition costs. Carter's director of transition is Jack Watson. Writer attends luncheon where Watson describes how the transition operates. Michael...

The Talk of the Town Dr. Salim Ali by Geoffrey T. Hellman. Talk story about ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali, of Bombay, co-author with S. Dillon Ripley of the 10-volume "Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan" which was completed in 1974 after 22 years of work. Sponsored by the Bombay Natural History Soc. of which Dr. Salim Ali is...

Poetry A Christmas Song by James Manning. Holy Infant...

Poetry Greetings, Friends! by Roger Angell. Dear friends, the founder of this rhyme...