September 7, 2005

William Grimes reviews book Solo: My Adventures in the Air by Clyde Edgerton; photos (M)

The bell was like a starting pistol, and as soon as it went off, the students came flying around the corner, their sneakers squeaking on the freshly waxed floor, their eyes on the prize: a place in the hot-lunch line. Because of overcrowding, the lunch period at Phillipsburg High School has been reduced to a chaotic 23 minutes, and if students time it right -- factoring in the lines, the crowds and the sprint from their mobile classrooms -- they figure they have about five minutes to eat. ''You sit down, you eat, you leave,'' said Jon Gregory, a senior. ''That's the deal. It's like being in college. It's all business here.''

St Rita's nursing home in Chalmette, La, holds at least 14 swollen, unrecognizable bodies, victims of flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina; 32 of home's roughly 60 residents died on Aug 29, when storm struck; home bears signs of residents' futile effort to keep water out; local people ask why home was not evacuated, as other nursing homes in St Bernard Parish were; officials suspect that there may be hundreds of similar, though smaller scenes of death that will become apparent only after water recedes and they are able to search every house (M)

Toyota Motor hopes to expand production of its gasoline-electric hybrid Prius cars from niche in marketplace--5 percent of American sales now--to mainstream--25 percent of its sales by 2010; faces variety of major challenges, among them increased competition, new tax rules that favor its American competitors and spreading realization among car buyers that not all hybrids offer big savings on gas; Toyota's goal is to sell million hybrids worldwide, including 600,000 to Americans, in next decade; by 2008, Americans can expect to see 10 hybrid models from Toyota, but also dozen from such brands as Mercury, Dodge, Chevrolet, Nissan and Porsche, as those auto makers realize that fuel efficiency may become important marketing tool; photo (M)

Interview with pop singer and songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who comments on how opera has influenced his singing style and songwriting; Wainwright will participate in Opera-For-All, gala event at New York State theater to celebrate opening of New York City Opera season; photos (M)