The Talk of the Town Volume by William McKibben. Talk story about a visit to the New York Stock Exchange, which now handles hundred-million-share days, a dramatic increase from 20-million-share days, 5 years ago. Writer talks to R. Peter Sullivan III, a specialist handling many companies' stock, as he was dealing on the floor. Sullivan...

The Talk of the Town Harvest by Bobbie Ann Mason. Talk story about the Horticultural Society of New York's Harvest Festival held on W. 58th St. Describes displays of the largest tomatos and zucchinis grown in the city this summer, as well as unusual vegetable formations, like carrots with arms and squashes that fused together. Describes entries of gardens grown...

The Art World (The Art Galleries) Skowhegan by Calvin Tomkins.

Books Two Titans by Alistair Cooke.

The Talk of the Town Li hts by William Franzen. Talk story about Pat Sangenito, an Artkraft Strauss Sign Corporation night-patrol man, on his shift on Labor Day night. His job is to look for lighting problems on the 60 or so large signs that the company builds and maintains in N.Y.C. and Long Island. Explains how his report...

Jazz Betty Bebop by Whitney Balliett.

The Current Cinema BUZZERS by Pauline Kael.

U. S. Journal U.S. JOURNAL: GRUNDY COUNTY, IOWA A FATHER-SON OPERATION by Calvin Trillin. Account of the murder of Esther Hartman by her husband Lawrence, a wealthy farmer and formerly solid citizen of the fertile black-top farming area of Grundy County, Iowa. Four or five years ago Lawrence Hartman owned one of the most prosperous corn and bean farms in the county, along...

Dance Eva and the New Wave by William McKibben. Talk story about a New Wave dance class on W. 23rd St., which was dreamed up by a man named Rick and is taught by an energetic Finnish woman, Eva. Describes Eva warming up and teaching the class of 14--like a Jack La Lanne to New Wave music. Rick...

Fiction October by Bill Barich. Wilhelm Klemper, an auto salesman from Munich, takes a 2-week vacation in Florence, Italy every October. For 10 years, he has stayed at the Pensione Ghiberti, run by Arturo Feraci, a 60-year-old widower, and his 18-year-old son, Massino. Although Klemper is usually a cheerful, well...

Fiction That Was the Summer of the Mockingbird by David Brendan Hopes. Writer recalls the summer he was 12 and living in the Ohio farmlands. It was marked by the flight of hundreds of mockingbirds. He describes this idyllic season. The summer ended when his mother became sick. Describes her last weeks at home and his perception of her hospital stay. She...

Annals of the Former World IN SUSPECT TERRAIN by John McPhee. ANNALS OF THE FORMER WORLD about geology. Writer talked with and travelled with Anita Harris of the U.S. Geological Survey. Tells about her work and life, especially her work with conodonts and her reasons for rejecting the plate tectonics theory. Describes the area around the Delaware Water Gap from a...

Jazz by Whitney Balliett. Entire column devoted to life and career of this jazz singer...

Comment by Alec Wilkinson. Resourcefulness is never lacking in this city. The other day, two vagrant men stood in conversation at the corner of East Houston and Mulberry Streets. One of them wore a brown sports coat, tan trousers, sneakers with no socks and a baseball cap. The other had black shoes without laces...

Musical Events Sounds and Sweet Airs by Andrew Porter.

Poetry Santorini: Stopping the Leak by James Merrill. Five sessions of (God willing) lethal X...