European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Bes l Bill Ltd fiction 1 the stand by Stephen King last week 2 weeks on 2 september by Rosamunde Pilcher last week 1  Las week 4 weeks on list 4 i of the places you la go by or. Seuss last week 3 weeks on list 15 5 the Golden Orange by Joseph Wambaugh last week 9 weeks on list 3 6 the Bourne ultimatum by Robert Ludlum last week 5 weeks on list 12 7 an inconvenient women by Dominick Dunne last week 7 weeks on list. 4 8 Skinny legs and All by Tom Robbins last week 6 weeks on list 7 9 family pictures by sue Miller last week 8 weeks on list 4 10 Clear and present danger by Tom Clancy last week 13 weeks on list 40 non fiction 1 men at work by George f. Will last week 1 weeks on list 8 2 Meg trends 2000 by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene last week 4 weeks on list 19 3 barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar last week 2 weeks on list 19 4 in the Arena by Richard Nixon last week 5 weeks on list 6 5 All i really need to know i Learned in kindergarten by Robert Fulghum last week 6 weeks on list 82 6ii was on fire when i Lay Down on it by Robert Fulghum last week 3 weeks on list 37 7 Dave Barry turns 40 by Dave Barry last week a weeks on list 1 8 liar s poker by Michael Lewis last week 10 weeks on list 30 9 my Lite in three acts by Helen Hayes with Katherine Hatch last week a weeks on list 1 10 flashbacks by Morley safer last week 11 weeks on list 5 paperback fiction 1 Joy Luck club by Amy Tan weeks on list 2 2 warriors woman by Johanna Lindsey weeks on list 1 3 red Phoenix by Larry Bond weeks on list 5 4 the servants of Twilight by Dean r. Koontz weeks on list 6 5 a prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving weeks on list 5 6 the Temple of my familiar by Alice Walker weeks on list 4 7 Day of the cheetah by Dale Brown weeks on list 1 8 Mirror image by Sandra Brown weeks on list 1 9 creature by John Saul weeks on list 1 18 Quot of Quot is for fugitive by sue Grafton weeks on list 6 paperback non fiction 1 love and marriage by Bill Cosby weeks on list 4 8 All i really need to know i Learned in kindergarten by Robert Fulghum weeks on list 28 8 a woman named Jackie by Jack Olsen weeks on list 2 4 from Cradle to grave by Joyce Egginton weeks on 8 Doc by Jack Olsen weeks on list 6 6 funny you done to look like a grandmother by Lois Wyse weeks on list 4 7 the Road less travelled by m. Scott Peck weeks on list 345 8 reasonable doubt by Steve Vogel weeks on list 1 meet the new kids on the Block weeks on list 1 summer of �?T49 by David Halberstam weeks on list 9 paperback miscellaneous 1 50 simple things you can do to save the Earth by the earthworks group weeks on list 17 2 weirdos from another planet by Bill Watterson weeks on list 11 3 codependent no More by Melanie Beattie weeks on list 91 4 50 simple things kids can do to save the Earth by the earthworks group weeks on list 6 5 the to Factor fat Gram counter by Jamie Pope Cordle weeks on list 6 compiled by the new York times stars and stripes Best Sellers fiction 1 the stand by Stephen King 2 Bright Star by Harold Coyle 3 september by Rosamunde Pilcher 4 the Bourne ultimatum by Robert Ludlum 5 the bad place by Dean Koontz 6 dragon by Clive Cussler 7 masquerade by Janet Dailey 8 Skinny legs and All by Tom Robbins 9 the evening news by Arthur Hailey 10 death Gate Cycle dragon Wing by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman non fiction Means of ascent by Robert Caro it was on fire when i Lay Down on it by Robert Fulghum in the Arena by Richard Nixon barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar men at work by George a Meg trends 2000 by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene secrets about men every woman should know by Barbara de Angelis 8 beware the naked Man who offers you his shirt by Harvey Mackay 9 Call her miss Ross by Randy Taraborrelli 10 Power of the family by Paul Pearsall use words that let ideas flow Al \ James j. Kilpatrick i jul Quot by Universal press Syndicate a not Long ago the new York times carried a profile on Roger Blaine Porter assistant to president Bush for economic and Domestic policy. Midway through the piece a paragraph began a even in a City of policy wonks or. Porter is an acknowledged Black Belt in  Nice metaphor i thought but what in the world is a a a wonk the noun is not in websters Iii. It is not in the Wentworth flex Ner dictionary of american Slang. But it is in the random House unabridged and it appears in Chapmans new dictionary of american Slang. A wonk i May now advise you is an Overly studious student an intellectual a grind. There is a verb form one wonks All night before an exam. The adjective is Wonky As in or. Porter is Wonky. I assume there is an adverb wonk ily. My Library offers nothing of a definitive nature on etymology or first usage. That is All i have to say about a wonk a except to remark that when i launched into the times piece i knew nothing about  thus we meander toward the Point of this essay As a general Rule of prose composition we ought to employ words that Are Likely to be familiar to 90 percent of our readers. The remaining 10 percent May be left to get along As Best they can. Are 90 percent of times readers familiar with a a wonk How do we gauge familiarity it is a matter of editorial judgment. My beloved brother in the pundit Racket William f. Buckley jr., began a column last year on Ronald Reagan a since everybody in the whole word is writing obituaries about Ronald Reagan herewith something this Side of a necrophilia account of what is going  thank you Bill. My brother continued his review a abroad Reagan gave out  Plain  of course he did. Yes. Last year novelist Daphne Merkin contributed a personal piece to the new York times. She had recently married. A the Man in question is handsome humorous and blessed with a capacious ability to disregard my  the trouble with such a Lovely invention As a  is that it throws the Reader for a Loop. Was the bridegrooms gift an ability to disregard her shortcomings her fantasies her moodiness her shaggy dog jokes we Are left to speculate. Such coinages Delight the writer but they interrupt the flow. You will understand that i am not objecting to Slang As such nor to newly coined words nor to such a hard words As my brother Buckley so necrophilia cd and  the writing Art would lose half its Joy if we were confined to the vocabulary of a 10-year-old. All i am saying is that we ought generally to stick with words that most of our readers will understand. That a not a very Wonky position. Sorry about that