A Reporter at Large ARMS AND ALLIES by John Newhouse. REPORTER AT LARGE about arms control and NATO. In 1977 Russia deployed intermediate-range missiles targeted against Western Europe. As a result of this, in 1979, NATO decided to place in W. Germany, Britain, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands American missiles capable of striking Russia. Tells about the crisis created...

Fiction My Car: A Global View by Mark Singer. Narrator's small car breaks down on an interstate highway in Pennsylvania. He tries to make sense of his car's life and death in terms of Bob, who sold it to him, used, and in the context of historical events from 1974-1982, including presidential elections, Farrah Fawcett, Iran, his wife's pregnancy...

Our Local Correspondents ONE HUNDRED by Patti Hagan. OUR LOCAL CORRESPONDENTS about a celebration in honor of Eubie Blake's hundredth birthday. It began at midnight on Feb. 6 and lasted 24 hours. It was held at St. Peter's Church at Lexington Ave. & 54 Street. The minister behind the birthday party was the Rev. John Garcia Gensel...

The Theatre Ambitious Illusionist by Brendan Gill.

Books Sorting Things Out by Whitney Balliett.

Fiction Jesse Honey, Mountain Guide by Mark Helprin. Hardesty Marratta sets out from San Francisco on his way across America. He jumps a train and is soon jumped on (accidently) by Jesse Honey, a very short man with missing fingers, who proclaims himself to be an expert guide. Hardesty follows Honey's advice and finds his arm dislocated and...

The Talk of the Town Big Dead by William McKibben. Talk story about his winning 1/4 million dollars for catching a seventy-eight and a half pound bass in Atlantic City. The contest was sponsered by ABU-Garcia fishing-supplies company and the award ceremony took place at the Explorers Club...

The Talk of the Town Crisis by Susan Lardner. Talk story about Janet who had just returned from the Midlife Fair at the Midlife Institute of Marymount Manhattan College, for women in their middle years. Janet describes some of the workshops she attended: "Coping with Elderly Parents, What Will I Do with the Rest of My LIfe, and Relationships...

The Art World (The Art Galleries) A Winner? by Calvin Tomkins.

The Talk of the Town Police Exam by William McKibben. Talk story about taking a New York City Police Dept. exam one Saturday afternoon at Brooklyn's Canarsie High School. The test was simultaneously administered to 37,000 young people at 35 high schools around the city. Candidates study a picture of a neighborhood on "the wrong side of town" and answer...

Profiles THE ASTONISHMENT OF BEING by Jonathan Cott. PROFILE of Astrid Lindgren, Swedish writer of children's books, especially known for the three "Pippi Longstocking" books. Her books have been translated into more than 25 languages. Tells about the unique qualities of the Pippi Longstocking books, which were influenced by Rousseau's "Emile." They were first published in Swedish in...

Letter from Europe by Jane Kramer. There is an argument going on in France about the movie, "Danton," directed by the Pole Andrezej Wajda, about whether it has a correct appreciation of the French Revolution -- correct from the point of view of the present government, who believe that Robespierre was merely a servant of passion, but...

Comment by Daniel Ford. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has solidly maintained that the nations's 76 commercial nuclear power plants, although susceptible to catastrophic meltdown accidents, are still safe enough to operate. The N.R.C.'s predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, asserted that meltdown accidents were not credible events. In 1972, the A.E.C. launched its...

Musical Events Generous Youth by Andrew Porter.

Poetry A Moment In Maine by John Hollander. The pine with but one thought regards the water against...

Poetry Winter Night by Nicholas Christopher. Burning torches line the floor of the sea...