Books by George Steiner.

The Talk of the Town Underground Civility by Philip Hamburger. The following message was recently sent to Robert Kiley, chairman of the M.T.A., by Gerald Herman, president of the American Clause and Phrase Association: We are pleased to inform you of the selection of "WATCH THE CLOSING DOORS" into our Association's Hall of Fame BILLIONTH UTTERANCE WING. SOLE STIPULATION FOR...

The Talk of the Town Go by Brendan Dealy. Talk story about a Go tournament. Four thousand years ago the Chinese invented Go. Not quite so long ago, the finals of the board game's most illustrious and lucrative Japanese tournament, the Kisei-Sen, began at the Kitano Hotel at 38th and Park. Writer tells what he saw though he...

A Reporter at Large ANCIENT RIGHTS by Robert Coram. A REPORTER AT LARGE about the Caribbean island of Barbuda, & also about Antigua. The Antiguan government, which has political control over Barbuda. Tells about development proposed for Barbuda by the corrupt Antiguan regime, which the Barbudans have little control over & about a trial set for March, which is...

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

Fiction Uno Mas by Wright Morris. Mrs. Drysdale found Maria, a Mexican Indian babysitting some blond children. She explained to Maria that she had 2 girls in school, but with a new baby on the way she needed help with her little boy named Peanuts, Peanuts was an anemic child subject to rashes-a whimpering howler...

Comment by Garrison Keillor. Comment about the inauguration of George Bush. Good for President Bush, who put on a big, snazzy, warm-spirited Inauguration. Unfortunately, writer missed it completely, owing to a computer error at the"Times"that held up delivery at his home & cut him off from the drumroll of end-of...

The Current Cinema DANCING by Arlene Croce.

The Talk of the Town Born To Paint by Adam Gopnik. Talk story about the fresco painter Antonio Romano who moved to the US from Italy as a teen-ager. He wears a hat which is a replica of the one worn by the Magi in Gozzoli's painting "The Procession of the Magi." Romano earns a living by teaching&painting...

Fiction Monroe's Wedding by John Holman. Monroe, who has only been working for Thompson's outdoor landscaping business for 3 weeks, asks Thompson to be his best man at his wedding. Monroe's upcoming marriage makes Thompson miss his own wife, to wish he were still married. His wife had a chance to advance in the catering company...

Profiles PREDILECTIONS by Mark Singer. PROFILE of moviemaker Errol Morris. During the past twelve years he has directed and released three films: "Gates of Heaven", about two pet cemeteries in Northern Calif; "Vernon Florida", a series of interviews with several residents of a swamp town in Florida; and "The Thin Blue Line", which arrived in...

The Theatre HIS MAJESTY by Edith Oliver.

Poetry The Shadow-Line by William Logan. A shadow loon flies from the grassy lake...

Poetry Salting the Oatmeal by Eleanor Ross Taylor. She never used a measuring sppon...

Poetry Lunar Frost by Mary Kinzie. The night of the day...