MORE ON THE HOLIDAY ISSUE

Regarding James Salter’s informative “Rich in France” (Book Review, Dec. 4):

Helas , in the introductory sentence of the article the owner of a restaurant was called a restauranteur spelled with an “n.”

The mot juste is restaurateur without an “n.” It is both a French and English word in the same form.

The root is restaurer (to restore), to repair, to re-establish, to restore strength by providing nourishment. The restaurateur is the person providing the service; the restaurant is the locale of the action.

The word as spelled in the article appears in no reputable dictionary.

ALBERT J. DESROSIERS, LOS ANGELES

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In the Dec. 4 article “Open Wounds” about pictorial books on the Bosnian tragedy, reviewer Charles Simic injects the Serb line and infers them to be propaganda since the books show no Serb bodies.

It’s not too long ago that your colleague, Carol Williams, reported on the fact that the Serbs have withheld entry to a sizable number of international correspondents. Was not Williams included in that number? Also, it has been widely reported that the Serbs made no bones about targeting press vehicles.

Linking Simic’s “never show what we did” and his “own memories of WWII in Yugoslavia,” I would ask Simic why Serbia has so carefully over five decades nurtured the myth that of all the countries occupied by Germany during that war that Serbia alone was immune to collaboration. The myth of Serbia’s victimization is the vehicle that has fanned the hatred leading to the Bosnian tragedy.

I suppose Simic would call the picture of the Serb quisling General Nedic on a state visit to Hitler propaganda.

ANTHONY F. BAZDARICH, SANTA BARBARA