Around City Hall Seasonal Games by Andy Logan. April 1st marked the beginning of the 1980-81 fiscal year for New York State, a year the first 17 days of which were marked by the lack of a state operating budget. Many state employees had to be paid in scrip for the next pay period. Governor Carey, an exemplar...

Fiction One Asks Oneself by Penelope Gilliatt. The writer tells about her fist cousin, Peter. He inherited his huge house, Clayes, in Gloucestershire, when his elder brother was killed in the Second World War. He inherited the peerage too, but declined it on the ground that he was a member of the House of Commons. Peter's first...

Musical Events Heroic-Romantic by Andrew Porter.

The Talk of the Town Conference by Gerald Jonas. Talk story about a three-day conference on interspecies communication held last week at the Roosevelt Hotel under the auspices of the N.Y. Academy of Sciences. The conference title, "The Clever Hans Phenomenon: Communication with Horses, Whales, Apes and People," referred to the story of Clever Hans, a famous European...

Fiction Call Me Ralph by Gwyneth Cravens. A series of journal entries by a writer who may be Herman Melville reveals what agonies he must go through with his book (perhaps "Moby Dick") because of the chance that some of the material in it may be libelous. His publisher's attorney requests countless changes - and ultimately the book...

The Theatre Off Broadway by Edith Oliver. Review of "Mother Courage", adapted by Ntozake Shange from the Brecht play...

Profiles A GOOD EYE AND A GOOD EAR by Calvin Tomkins. PROFILE of art dealer Leo Castelli, 72, who is the most influential purveyor of contemporary art in the world today. The Castelli Gallery, now in its 24th year, represents a roster of international art stars. For Castelli commercial success is not the main concern. The artist always comes before the...

The Sporting Scene FIFTY YEARS AFTER THE GRAND SLAM by Herbert Warren Wind. THE SPORTING SCENE about the 1980 Masters golf tournament, held in mid-April at the Augusta National golf course. It was won by Severiano Ballesteros of Spain, 23 years old. Tells about him and his playing. Writer thinks he should be a commanding figure in international golf for many years...

Letter from London by Mollie Panter-Downes. Margaret Thatcher has been in office for just over a year and all the press gave the anniversary a vast amount of respectful comment. She insists on getting th best she can for England, come what may. She turned down as insufficient the really sizable offer of a further reduction...

Comment by Suzannah Lessard. Lengthy Comment about the dual nature of our immigration policies. The immigration of people to America from all over the world, with its far-reaching effects upon our cultural map, has been for us a way of being. Now our erstwhile wilderness has become a fortress within which a large...

The Talk of the Town Barbie's Birthday by Stanley Mieses. Talk story about a fashion show of Barbie-Doll outfits, held at Hurrah's on the occasion of the Barbie Doll's twenty-first birthday. Twenty-one life-size outfits were modeled by women from the Elite Model Agency. Backstage, the writer observed William Lively checking off the models' assignments, and spoke...

Fiction The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick. On the march to the concentration camp, Rosa concealed her baby Magda...

The Current Cinema Cheers and Whimpers by Roger Angell. Review of Fame, a musical film that follows a fictional class of talented young dancers, actors, and musicians through their four years at the unfictional School of Performing Arts. It was shot in the grungy rooms of an abandoned N.Y. high-school building that resembles the slummy-looking School of...

Poetry Bus Ride by Lorrie Goldensohn. Careless, he cools a sweaty palm...

Poetry A Woman Kneeling in the Big City by Elizabeth Macklin. They think I have lost a coin, a beaded purse...