Comment by Jonathan Schell. Voice" writer Marc Cooper recently described what happened to the city of Berlin, El Salvador, when it was taken over first by guerillas and then by government forces. The government forces flattened it, then the U.S. Agency for International Development rebuilt it, in an effort to ingratiate the government of...

Fiction On the Train by Gene Wolfe. The writer descibes his journey on a train in dream-like terms, as though describing his journey through life: "When I look out the window, the earth seems to have become liquid, rushing to flow over a falls that is always just behind the last car... I do not remember...

Musical Events Feast of Reason, Flow of Soul by Andrew Porter.

The Sporting Scene EASY LESSONS by Roger Angell. THE SPORTING SCENE about baseball spring training. Writer spends a lot of time with the A's and briefly discusses their disastrous last season under the contentious manager Billy Martin. In spite of their dolorous prospects, the Oaklands were a cheerful ball club this spring, partly due to their new manager...

Concert Records / Popular Music Miscellany by Winthrop Sargeant.

The Theatre Off Broadway by Edith Oliver.

Fiction Waiting for Stella by Alice Adams. On a bright October day south of San Francisco, Rachel is having a luncheon for 13 people. They are all in their 70's or 80's, except for Day, a pretty young girl who helps serve. Jimmy, the most important guest, is late. Jimmy is Stella's 4th &...

Fiction Manhattan by Saul Steinberg. Four drawings concerned with New York City. The caption on one of them is "Leon Trotsky has apple pie and tea at the Automat on Broadway at 47th Street, January 28, 1917.O...

The Talk of the Town 718? 212! by William McKibben. Talk story about New York Telephone's announcement that it planned to detach Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island from their 212 area code and change it to 718. In 1947, "Ma Bell" lumped them all together. If the area code changes, the calls will cost the same as local calls, but...

The Art World (The Art Galleries) What the Hand Knows by Calvin Tomkins.

Books A Long Way Home by John Updike.

A Reporter at Large A NEARLY PERFECT FUEL by Barry Commoner. REPORTER AT LARGE about methane, the principal constituent of natural gas. As a result of the energy crisis the major fuels of the U.S. have come under intense scrutiny. The one that most closely approaches the ideal is methane. Tells how effective use of it has been hindered by erratic...

The Talk of the Town Did You Get to Meet the Dukes? by Kennedy Fraser. Talk story about attending parties in honor of the "Britain Salutes New York" arts festival, which had its coming out a week or so ago. On the eve of the official debut, writer went for drinks to the newly renovated penthouse loft of David Lloyd-Jacob, the New York-based...

Poetry To a Pocket Calculator by James Merrill. Quiz kid...

Poetry Cavafy in Redondo by Mark Jarman. Our ruins run back to memory...

Poetry Chickadees by Brendan Galvin. The crow is only an anvil...

Poetry Scenic View by Donald Hall. Every year the mountains...