The Fun of It: Stories from the Talk of the Town Book

	Acknowledgments
	Introduction
	Editor's Preface
	"Up the Dark Stairs -"	3
	A Marquise at Home	6
	The King's Pajamas	8
	Might Have Been -	9
	Cal and Belles Lettres	11
	Modest Mr. Shaw	12
	Vachel Lindsay	14
	Fence Buster	16
	The Sin of Adams	18
	Dime Novel	20
	The Old Lady	22
	Music Makers	24
	Potter's Field	26
	Harriett	28
	Dancing Couple	30
	Big Boy	32
	Newsreel	34
	Calder's Circus	36
	Isadora's Brother	38
	Soup of the Evening	41
	Corsets de Luxe	43
	Painter in Town	45
	Severest Critic	47
	Angel	49
	The High Place	51
	Trivia	53
	Tex and Ella	55
	Al	57
	The Flying Spot	59
	Oxford Man	61
	The Frescoer	63
	Inaugural Blues	65
	Long Range	67
	High Hats	69
	Great Men	71
	The Blues Man	73
	As Millions Cheer	75
	House of Brick	77
	Lenox 1734	79
	Jeann and Jimmy	81
	Bronx Tiger	83
	The Dakota	85
	Gtde	87
	Miss Rand	89
	The Joyces	91
	Met's Maitre	93
	Dark Contralto	95
	Walter's Banks	97
	Knock of Opportunity	99
	Deshabilleuse	101
	Dead Pan Joe	103
	Et Tu, Shadow?	105
	Leftist Revue	107
	Exiles in Princeton	109
	Interne	113
	The Admiral's Chair	115
	Cookless Congressman	117
	Prepared Pianist	119
	Masterpiece	121
	The Celluloid Brassiere	123
	Last Word	125
	One Man's Family	127
	Absurdiste	129
	Twelfth Night	131
	After Ten Years	133
	Lugubrious Mama	135
	Live Merchandise	138
	Fugue	215
	Beckett	220
	Red Mittens!	224
	The McLuhan Metaphor	228
	Long-Winded Lady	231
	Runouts, Kickouts, and Popouts at Gilgo Beach	234
	Bike to Work	239
	Questions at Radio City	242
	The Postmaster	245
	Elvis! David!	248
	Almanac	252
	Mays at St. Bernard's	254
	Elsewhere	257
	"Wonder Bar"	260
	Dylan	262
	New Boy	265
	Fancy	268
	Being Present	272
	Leaving Motown	276
	Minnesota Fats	280
	Taxi Jokes	282
	Twenty-five Thousandths of a Second	285
	Film	287
	Turnout	289
	Still Wonderful	293
	Flimmaker	296
	Intensive Care	391
	Word Perfect	393
	Cyberspace Has a V.I.P. Lounge, Too	395
	Tou-Tou-Toukie, Hello	398
	Russian Tennis: Advantage Yeltsin	400
	The Shit-Kickers of Madison Avenue	402
	After Midnight	406
	A Battalion of Bellas	409
	A Dickensian Task	411
	The Times Embarks on New Ways to Get Out the Gray	413
	Son of est: The Terminator of Self-Doubt	415
	Do the Rookies Know How Willie Mays Played?	418
	Al Hirschfeld Blows Out His Candles	420
	The World Was Invited to Noam Chomsky's Virtual Birthday Party	422
	A Postmodernist Goes Shopping	424
	Elegy for a Parking Space	426
	A Little Bit of Audrey for Everyone	428
	Bill and Hill, Meet Rob and Laura	430
	Nostalgia for the Bygone Days of Feminist Family Feuding	432
	The New Year Stumbles In	437
	The Well-Heeled and the Wonky Toast the Millennium	440
	Two Menus	442
	The Book to Have When the Killer Bees Arrive	444
	The Fast-Food President Goes Haute Cuisine	446
	What's in a Domain Name?	448
	How to Make the Most of Some Sexy Snapshots	450
	The Guy Who Makes The President Funny	453
	Naked and Truthful in the Bronx	455
	Nudie Pix Redux	458
	Balloon Diplomacy for Elian	462
	An Ode to Golf	464
	A Rubin's Guide to Getting it All	466
	Quiz Whiz	468
	Proverbs According to Dennis Miller	471
	The Goodest Guys	472
	An Analog Toast to the Digital Age	476