The Talk of the Town Zipper Man by Mark Singer. A talk story about Herbert Stiefel, of a place where people can get zippers... Theodore Parham had a problem with his black nylon parka. "How long a zipper you need?" asked Mr. Stiefel. "19 inches. Aluminum." "Nickel silver is what you want, not aluminum. Nickel silver is the best." While...

Letter from Washington by Elizabeth Drew. Richard Gephardt is trying a strategy that might make it difficult for him to win the Democratic presidential nomination, in the hope that, if it works, it could win him the Presidency. He is trying to walk a center line, making him completely pleasing neither to strong liberals nor to...

The Theatre BUSINESS AS USUAL by Edith Oliver.

The Talk of the Town Carthage by Adam Gopnik. Talk story about archeologist David Soren, who was in town to assemble a new show of mosaics & other works of art from Carthage at the American Museum of Natural History... Professor Soren, who at a time when most archeologists go in for the potsherds-and-Stratum 12 style of...

The Talk of the Town Accordions by Elizabeth Morgan. Talk story about the accordion, which writer suggests, may be coming back. Writer was aware of certain Tex-Mex bands (Los Logos, Joe King Carrasco) and the Cajun bands (Beausoleil, Clifton Chenier) making their way North. Maybe, writer thought, their popularity was an offshoot of the food trends. But when...

The Current Cinema IRISH VOICES by Pauline Kael.

Our Far-Flung Correspondents A JOURNEY TO LHASA by Jeremy Bernstein. OUR FAR-FLUNG CORRESPONDENTS about Tibet & about a trip the writer took from Nepal to Lhasa, capital of Tibet. Oct. 1 is celebrated by the Chinese in Tibet as it marks the anniversary of the Chinese Communist takeover of Tibet, which began in Oct., 1950. This year's observance was...

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

Books by Alfred Kazin.

Comment by Harold Brodkey. Writer looks back on Thanksgivings in the past and thinks about the recent one. This year it was more of a party than a Thanksgiving. There were ten people, four related by blood the rest by marriage or just related. Two couples were flirting and everyone played poker after the...

Fiction Brother Grasshopper by John Updike. Fred Barrow had been an only child. He married early, right after Harvard, supplying himself with another roommate rather than launching into life alone. Among his wife's assets for him was her own family, including a younger sister also at Radcliffe. Germaine dated Carlyle Lothrop, a tall bony New Englander...

Poetry The Poor in the Bus Depot by Ledo Ivo. The poor travel. In the bus depot...

Poetry The Potato Picker by Nancy Willard. The plant lifts easily now, like an old tooth...