Nobody Better Better

Frazier (Dating Your Mom is a staff writer for the New Yorker; collected here are five of his articles that have appeared in the magazine since 1979. They are a masterly blend of detailed observation and subtle humor, perhaps best combined in the title story, a profile of Heloise, the syndicated household-hints columnist. The opening piece describes an unusual festival, the small Kansas town of Oberlin celebrating an anniversary with the descendants of Cheyenne Indians who raided the town in 1878. Frazier's love of fishing and the state of Montana are reflected in ""An Angler at Heart,'' a profile of an unusual purveyor of fishing tackle near New York's Grand Central Station, and ``Bear News,'' which tells almost as much about Frazier as about Montana's bears. The work of a true listener and observer, these reportings are Americana at its idiosyncratic best. (May 4)