The Talk of the Town Curatorial Remarks by Jane Boutwell. Talk story about a recent assemblage at the Morgan Library of forty-odd curators of graphic collections. Dr. Schmidt is a director of the Kupferstichkabinett, a part of the Staatliche Kunstammlungen, in Dresden, E. Germany. He discusses his efforts to collect contemporary art, including American works. Many of the museum's...

Fiction Burglars in the Flesh by Lore Segal. Ilka is staying at her cousin Fishgoppel's apartment in Manhattan. Her mother from Germany arrives. The older woman speaks no English and won't go out. She has a recurring dream about ants as big as people coming into the apartment, washing up, and working with some sort of knife in...

Musical Events Isaac and David by Andrew Porter.

The Talk of the Town Rainstorm by James Stevenson. Illustrated Talk story about a violent rainstorm that started while the writer was in the Pan Am Building on a recent afternoon. On attempting to leave, he found a whole crowd of people without raincoats or umbrellas standing in the lobby. Describes the various styles of rain watchers and sketches...

Fiction Partners by Veronica Geng. A parody of wedding announcements as they appear in newspapers...

Books Essentials by Jeremy Berstein.

Comment by James Stevenson. Comment about a picnic on top of a sand dune near Wellfleet, on Cape Cod. Descriptions of the sea, the party of four, and the color of Swiss cheese after lengthy submersion are inspired by the Peterson-McKenny "Field Guide to Wildflowers." The 11-year-old in the party read...

The Theatre LEAST SAID SOONEST MENDED by Brendan Gill.

The Talk of the Town Love and Money by Ian Frazier. Talk story about raising money for "Love Tapes in New York 1980: A Public, Interactive Video Art Event." The project consisted of a video camera set up in a booth at Two World Trade Center, where anyone who wanted could discuss his or her feelings about love for three minutes...

Dancing Keeper of the Flame by Arlene Croce.

U. S. Journal REGIONAL THOUGHTS FROM ATOP THE GATEWAY ARCH by Calvin Trillin. U.S. JOURNAL: ST. LOUIS, MO. about writer's visit to St. Louis, the so-called "Gateway to the West.O He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and believed that his city was the nation's Gateway to the West. He claims that until the construction of the Gateway Arch, St. Louis was...

Profiles III-EYE OF THE STORM by Robert Shaplen. PROFILE of David Dunlop Newsom, highest-ranking Foreign Service officer in the State Dept. He is 62, and has spent about half of his career abroad and half in Washington. He is regarded as a consummate diplomat with a masterly ability to solve complicated problems. Tells about his office and...

Poetry Memoirs by William Meredith. Even when he was a child, the Emperor...

Poetry Old New England by Derek Walcott. Black clippers, tarred with whales' blood, fold their...