Robert Finn's translation of Turkish author Nazli Eray's Orphé e makes available to the English-language reader a rewriting of the myth from the perspective of Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus. Eray's surrealistic version takes place in a hot resort town in contemporary Turkey. The setting of an archaeological dig gives a connection to the past and literally to the underworld. Found in the dig is a statue of the Roman emperor Hadrian, who proceeds to offer an unusual perspective on modern life and values through mysterious letters carried by a messenger pigeon. Eray also comments on modernity, as the city of Ankara emerges as a character in the novel's fantasy. Set in junta-ruled Turkey of the 1980s, the novel takes its place as a crucial slice of Turkish literary history.

Resonating with haunting references to the film Last Tango in Paris, the novel evolves as a mystery story with a humorous bent. Thus Eray illuminates her insatiable curiosity about other cultures, particularly those of the West. Finally, the style of the translation is simple and clear, with crisp dialogue. Sibel Erol, professor of Turkish literature at New York University, has written an introduction that places this fantastic plot in a literary context, as well as in understandable terms that relate to the reality of today's Turkey.

This volume derives from a workshop on differential geometry, calculus of vari ations, and computer graphics at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, May 23-25, 1988. The meeting was structured around principal lectures given by F. Almgren, M. Callahan, J. Ericksen, G. Francis, R. Gulliver, P. Hanra han, J. Kajiya, K. Polthier, J. Sethian, I. Sterling, E. L. Thomas, and T. Vogel. The divergent backgrounds of these and the many other participants, as reflected in their lectures at the meeting and in their papers presented here, testify to the unifying element of the workshop's central theme. Any such meeting is ultimately dependent for its success on the interest and motivation of its participants. In this respect the present gathering was especially fortunate. The depth and range of the new developments presented in the lectures and also in informal discussion point to scientific and technological frontiers be ing crossed with impressive speed. The present volume is offered as a permanent record for those who were present, and also with a view toward making the material available to a wider audience than were able to attend.

Capillarity phenomena are all about us; anyone who has seen a drop of dew on a plant leaf or the spray from a waterfall has observed them. Apart from their frequently remarked poetic qualities, phenomena of this sort are so familiar as to escape special notice. In this sense the rise of liquid in a narrow tube is a more dramatic event that demands and at first defied explanation; recorded observations of this and similar occur rences can be traced back to times of antiquity, and for lack of expla nation came to be described by words deriving from the Latin word "capillus," meaning hair. It was not until the eighteenth century that an awareness developed that these and many other phenomena are all manifestations of some thing that happens whenever two different materials are situated adjacent to each other and do not mix. If one (at least) of the materials is a fluid, which forms with another fluid (or gas) a free surface interface, then the interface will be referred to as a capillary surface."

The Black Rose of Halfeti opens with a letter delivered at midnight in Ankara, Turkey. In this letter, an elderly doctor who has begun to experience the first signs of dementia professes his love and desire for a relationship with the narrator, a woman in middle age beginning to contemplate her own mortality. From there, the novel moves between Mardin, Izmir, and Ankara; the past and the present; and the real and the imagined as the narrator seeks to know the doctor both in his prime and in his struggle to hold senility at bay. In these dreamlike landscapes, the author effortlessly introduces King Darius, the Spanish director Luis Bunuel, the actress Silvia Pinal, and the archetypal dream woman as the narrator's guides in her efforts to understand the human psyche. Nazli Eray has established herself as a master of magical realism, the perfect tool to bring to life this poignant meditation on love, aging, and the role of memory. And, as in her earlier novels, she paints vivid images of the urban landscapes of Turkey, capturing both the present and the past.

** ORDER NIGHTS OF PLAGUE, THE NEW NOVEL FROM ORHAN PAMUK, NOW ** Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 'One of the greatest and most prophetic of political novelists.' Guardian Books of the Year 'Inspired and impassioned' New York Times 'Powerful, assured and engaging.' Irish Times A family gathers in the shadow of a revolution, until an outsider brings the action to their door As the political tension from Turkey's tumultuous struggle for modernity builds, an old widow Fatma waits with her faithful servant Recep for her grandchildren to descend for their annual visit. Faruk, a failed historian; his sensitive leftist sister, Nilgun; and Metin, a high school student who lives the fast life of the nouveaux riches while dreaming of escape. The arrival of Recep's nephew Hassan, who has recently fallen in with right-wing extremists, draws the family into the growing political cataclysm. As the country wavers towards tragedy, the family are forced to confront their past and decide where they stand.

Vallombrosa Center was host during the week September 7-12, 1985 to about 40 mathematicians, physical scientists, and engineers, who share a common interest in free surface phenomena. This volume includes a selection of contributions by participants and also a few papers by interested scientists who were unable to attend in person. Although a proceedings volume cannot recapture entirely the stimulus of personal interaction that ultimately is the best justification for such a gathering, we do offer what we hope is a representative sampling of the contributions, indicating something of the varied and interrelated ways with which these classical but largely unsettled questions are currently being attacked. For the participants, and also for other specialists, the 23 papers that follow should help to establish and to maintain the new ideas and insights that were presented, as active working tools. Much of the material will certainly be of interest also for a broader audience, as it impinges and overlaps with varying directions of scientific development. On behalf of the organizing committee, we thank the speakers for excellent, well-prepared lectures. Additionally, the many lively informal discussions did much to contribute to the success of the conference.