Books Diana and Duff by Mollie Panter-Downes.

Comment by Suzannah Lessard. In recent months, New York has become a river town. This came about through the dismantling, below Forty-second Street, of the West Side Highway. The highway was set down along the edge of the Hudson, and from the Battery to midtown it was elevated. Thus, the view to the...

The Talk of the Town Tennis by Kennedy Fraser. Talk story in letter form from an expatriate Englishwoman recalling her young tennis-playing days in England. In the back of her family's house, there was a bumpy old grass court bordered by flower and vegetable gardens. Writer contrasts her experiences with tennis with the recent tennis championships at Flushing...

The Sporting Scene SFIDA IN TUSCANY by Bill Barich. THE SPORTING SCENE about going to Le Cascine Racetrack in Florence, Italy in the early spring. Writer takes the No. 38 bus down the Pian dei Guellari through the city center to the Porta Romana and then to Cascine Park, which he describes as ineffably small-town, with lots of...

Fiction Set Off by James Robison. Shelly is a shy high school student, who lives in a wealthy Boston suburb. Both her parents are architects and their house is a jointly wrought "concept" filled with many designed objects. Although her home is lavish, Shelly dresses in old, non-descript clothing and her friend Kilbrew is surprised...

The Talk of the Town by James Stevenson. Illustrated talk story about a visit to the M & M Photo Studio at 1192 Sixth Ave.--it previously had different names. There passport photos are taken by the Century No. 4A Studio Camera, which is manufactured by the Folmer Graflex Corp. The camera, which is used by squeezing a...

Annals of the Former World III-IN SUSPECT TERRAIN by John McPhee. ANNALS OF THE FORMER WORLD about geology. On a cool April morning, Anita Harris of the U.S. Geological Survey, began a trip on Interstate 80 from the Precambrian highlands of New Jersey to the glacial landscapes of northern Indiana. As a rock-carrying assistant, a geological intern, writer accompanied her...

The Talk of the Town The Century No. 4A by James Stevenson. Talk story with illustrations about the Century No. 4A Studio Camera, which is manufactured by the Folmer Graflex Corporation and has been taking passport photos at the squeeze of a rubber bulb for several generations at 1192 Sixth Ave. Lists famous people whose passport photos, having been taken at the...

Musical Events Pastoral by Andrew Porter.

Fiction America's Cup '83: The Sherpa Challenge by Lynn Caraganis. A satiric collection of notes about the 1983 America's Cup boat race held in Newport, R.I. is compiled by a Briton who is friendly with members of the N.Y. Yacht Club. The notes cover a period of time from Sep. 9-Sep. 14. Describes a mysterious challenger from Kathmandu whose...

The Theatre Off Broadway by Edith Oliver.

The Talk of the Town Definitions by William McKibben. Talk story about going to the Park Ave. headquarters of Goodson-Todman productions, where a bunch of kids are hard at work defining words for a shiny new TV game show--"Child's Play." Videotapes of their definitions are sent to Los Angeles, where adults participate in the show...

Poetry At A Private Showing in 1982 by Maxine Kumin. This loving attention to the details...

Poetry Tremayne Autumnal by Donald Justice. Autumn, and a cold rain, and mist...