A collection of New Yorker pieces which have appeared in that magazine over the last decade, these feature the informal, insouciant talents of one of their younger staff members. In his investigation of strata which vary from the very social to the very special, he ranges from a debut at Newport (he ""a goat among sheep"") to the retreat of some amiable Metaphysicians to the beagling elite. From his participation in the armed forces he includes a few of the articles which came out in book form in Army Life and G.I. Jungle. And from his return to civilian life there are moments of personal misfortune and mishap, the purchase of a midget car and a pair of glasses; a casualty career as a skier, the suburban drama of the ""great snow of '47""; etc. etc. For gentler tastes in humor, these have an easygoing, effortless charm, are at all times relaxing.