Comment by William Finnegan. Comment about race relations, the riots in Los Angeles in the wake of the Rodney King verdict, and writer's young experience with the LAPD. In the summer of 1965, when Watts exploded, writer was 12 years old. His family lived at the western end of the San Fernando Valley, which...

The Talk of the Town Herpheads by Elizabeth Wurtzel. Talk story about Bill Perron, who exhibits his large collection of snakes & other reptiles for a living. Writer met him at a party celebrating the rock band Metallica's quadruple platinum album, as he was carrying his 12-foot python Theo. His girlfriend Janet Cantor was also there. Bill explained...

The Talk of the Town Sons by Adam Gopnik. Talk story about celebration of Gen. Grant's birthday, at Grant's Tomb, by the Sons of Union Veterans, and the annual memorial service by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, at Brick Presbyterian Church. Lieutenant Commander Michael Kogan, of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, General Archibald Gracie, Jr., Camp No. 985, New...

Fiction Things to Care For by Judy Troy. The story opens with Octavia Huber bottle-feeding her son's baby, goat, whose mother died giving birth. Octavia spent the day with members of her family: with her daughter Francis, she visited her son Everett; that evening Francis' daughter and her boyfriend Tom came to dinner...

Fiction Mrs. Box by Michael Chabon. Eddie Zwang, a bankrupt optometrist headed for Mexico from Washington state in a Volvo filled with stolen optical equipment, decided to stop in Portland, Oregon, and visit his ex-wife's grandmother, Mrs. Oriole Box. He checked around for the Sikh who had been following him, probably to repossess his Volvo...

Report from Cambodia by Stan Sesser. Tells about the 19-nation conference in Paris last October under the auspices of the United Nations. To satisfy all the participants, the peace agreement set up three different governments, which are operating side by side. One is the Hun Sen government, installed by the Vietnamese, when they overthrew the...

The Art World (The Art Galleries) by Adam Gopnik.

The Current Cinema by Terrence Rafferty.

Legacy by Terrence Rafferty. Obituary of Satyajit Ray, mentioned in a review of his film, "The Stranger...

Letter from Washington by Elizabeth Drew. Entire article about H. Ross Perot's possible presidential candidacy as an independent. His coming out ahead of both Bush and Clinton in a Texas poll a couple of weeks ago caused a lot of heads to snap. The big question is whether he'll be plausible in Nov. The weakness of...

Books by Joan Acocella.

Poetry Spring Trances by August Kleinzhahler. Two snails have found the inside of a Granny Goose...

Poetry The Death of the Nurse by Elisabeth Harvor. She died," says the doctor...

Poetry Farewell to the City by Zbigniew Herbert. Chimneys salute this departure with smoke...