THE RIVER WORLD AND OTHER EXPLORATIONS

RouechÉ's choice articles, culled from 30 years of New Yorker writing, concentrate not on the medical detections he's skillfully mastered but on people, places, and foods. Like the apple: ""plain, honest, artless, and infinite in its homely variety."" Or garlic, a wonder of the ancient world, out of favor for centuries until gourmet cooks restored it to its rightful prominence. Or the humblest fruit: ""Everybody likes the banana but nobody takes it seriously."" RouechÉ also introduces two Long Island winemakers, who operate their vineyard on the principles of Vergil's Georgics, and a county agent for the Idaho Agricultural Extension Service, who breezily exchanges cup-of-coffee intimacies on sandburs and seed broadcasting. There's a full view of the Sag Harbor Whalers' Presbyterian Church, including eyewitness memories of its storm-lost steeple, and an exultant tour of the Florissant, Colorado, fossil beds--""A Window on the Oligocene."" A genteel, tailored collection from the title entry--modern riverboat life--to a New Mexico GP's better-than-Welby daily practice.