A Reporter at Large II-THE BIGGEST GAME IN TOWN by A. Alvarez. REPORTER AT LARGE about the annual World Series of Poker held at Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. Tells, in detail, about Doyle Brunson, twice the winner. For many of the top professionals poker has become a substitute for sportNsomething they turn to when their physical edge has gone, but...

The Theatre OUTWITTING TIME by Brendan Gill.

Comment by William McKibben. Some moral dilemnas, such as whether one would break into a pharmacy to obtain medicine for a dying wife, are easy enough to deal with; values and ethics are banished to the realm of the unlikely. But these days almost anyone will come across poor people cadging change: on the...

Musical Events Magical Opera by Andrew Porter.

The Talk of the Town At Mr. Chow's by Jamaica Kincaid. Talk story about a late-night party given at Mr. Chow's in honor of the group Culture Club and their American triumph. The invitation said RSVP Epic Records (Culture Club signed with the Epic label) and was sent to famous musicians, rock critics, and other people involved in the music...

Fiction The Executor by Muriel Spark. Susan Kyle gave up her job in Edinburgh in the government office to take care of her old uncle in Pentland Hills. He was a writer and Susan was appointed sole literary executor and inherited his house. She took care of everything with the help of Mrs. Donaldson. Susan gave...

Fiction The End of the World by Bill Barich. Donald Edmunds is a Mormon living in Salt Lake who is soon to go on a mission to San Francisco. His mother buys him a new suit for the occasion: brown with a second pair of light colored trousers. At the airport Edmunds discovers that his companion, Davis, has the...

The Art World by Whitney Balliett. Biographical sketch of Fairfield Porter, who died in 1975. Quotes from interviews with friends and his widow, Anne. There is a retrospective of his work at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Some of the show will go on the road this monthNGreenville, South Carolina; Cleveland; Pittsburgh; and the Whitney...

Books Getting the Hang of It by Alistair Cooke.

The Talk of the Town Accentuating the Positive by E. J. Kahn. Talk story about a two-day meeting at the Waldorf Astoria titled International Convocation for World Environmental Regeneration. Seven hundred and fifty men & women from a dozen or more nations took part. The get-together was originally set for 1982 as an observance of the tenth anniversaray of...

The Talk of the Town Champion by Jean Strouse. Talk story about Alicia McConnell winning the United States Women's National Squash Championships in Boston. She is a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania who has been winning every tournament on the women's circuit & in 1982 became the first player in the history of the...

Poetry Tropic Zone by Derek Walcott. A white dory, face down, its rusted keel staining...