When Robert van Gelder began editing the Times Book Review, he changed the old pattern of using the same reviewers over and over till they wore out, by inviting some brand new names. Nash's debut (from Jackson, where he was by then a schoolmaster, and the husband of one of his ex-pupils) was a review that delighted Mr. van Gelder so much that he popped it right onto the fron page. When it came under Mr. Markel's eye, it's told, he phoned Mr. van Gelder and demanded to know who in hell was Nash K. Burger Jr. `Nash K. Burger Jr.,' Mr. van Gelder replied, `is the author of the book review we are using on page one.