Talk of the Town

We were more than mildly surprised the other day to discover that The New Yorker magazine had taken it upon itself to add a table of contents. In a world where change confronts one at every turn, we had always taken a certain satisfaction in the constancy of Chat publication. Wondering if a palace coup had taken place on Manhattan's West 43rd Street while our attention was directed elsewhere, we at once put in a call to the magazine's editor, William Shawn.

"Hello, New Yorker Magazine," a pleasant male voice informed us after a single ring. We asked for Mr. Shawn and immediately found ourselves talking with an equally pleasant lady. Though it was nearly noon, she explained that Mr. Shawn had yet to begin his working day but would return our call when he arrived. Sure enough, in less time than it takes to peruse "Talk of the Town," our phone rang and we found ourselves engaged with Mr. Shawn himself.

"Chiefly," he began in response to our question, "readers have been asking for it, requesting it, for a long time. Finally, there were so many asking for it, we decided we'd have it--for their convenience. Really, you know, it is helpful, particularly in looking something up in back issues. It will be very helpful to librarians and researchers."

We couldn't help inquiring whether resistance had been offered to the change. "Oh yes, there has been resistance. I felt a certain resistance myself. There are those of us who enjoyed the idea of just coming upon something as we went through the magazine, coming onto something fresh without knowing it was going to be there. I also have the feeling there are some things that can't be expressed in an index--you just have to read them."

We had to admit to the logic of his reasoning. Yet there remained the unsettling feeling of a decision having been made in haste. Mr. Shawn was happy to dispel that illusion. "We've been considering it," he said, "to my knowledge, about 30 years."

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