Why I Love Vanity Fair - - - - > > >

[Stephanie]

Don't be distracted by the fashion and celebrities. VF has some of the best political writing. Do you read it?

http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/toc/2007/toc200704

Features

208 "YES, MR. PRESIDENT!"
Think Robert McNamara, Henry Kissinger, Peggy Noonan: for good or ill, every president's inner circle helps forge his legacy. With George W. Bush pushing executive power to new levels, a historic V.F. portfolio re-unites 77 advisers, Cabinet members, and confidants, from the Truman White House onward, while Todd Brewster grades their performances. Photographs by Jonathan Becker, Harry Benson, Jonas Karlsson, David Hume Kennerly, Nigel Parry, Mark Seliger, Art Streiber, and Christian Witkin.

224 LEO GRANDE
Amy Gross spotlights the late Leo Lerman, whose journals capture his dazzling orbit as a V.F. editor and dean of New York's cultural scene. Photograph by Irving Penn.

226 THE KREMLIN'S LONG SHADOW
The murder in London last November of former K.G.B. agent Alexander Litvinenko had all the elements of a spy thriller: an exotic poison, an exiled tycoon, and plenty of hidden agendas. But can the polonium 210 that killed Litvinenko be traced back to Moscow? Bryan Burrough investigates.

232 THE POWER OF POIRET
Michael Roberts and Amy Fine Collins spotlight the avant-garde vision of Paul Poiret, the early-20th-century French designer whose work is on show next month at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

234 AN AMERICAN FAMILY
Veteran scriptwriter David Chase dreamed of breaking into movies. Instead, he revolutionized television—and put HBO on the map—with a rule-breaking show about a Mob boss in midlife crisis. Eight years later, as The Sopranos heads toward its finale, Peter Biskind asks what will become of Tony Soprano and his creator. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz.

242 IT'S HAUTE IN HERE
With a new album (Wild Hope) releasing, and another movie (License to Wed) on the way, Mandy Moore jets to Paris, modeling the latest couture in a private fashion show for V.F. Photographs by Michael Roberts.

246 NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Six retired generals shocked the Pentagon, their comrades, and in some cases themselves last spring, when they called for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign. Tracing their different paths to the same moment of truth, David Margolick learns why some of the military's finest look back in anger—and in anguish. Photographs by Nigel Parry.

252 MAKE MINE IBIZA!
Fifty-seven miles off the coast of Spain, blessed with virtually eternal sunshine, Ibiza is either a freethinking paradise or a hedonistic hellhole, depending on whom you ask. Crashing the 24-hour party, George Gurley discovers what has lured the world's most glamorous people—from Elizabeth Taylor to Kate Moss—to the uninhibited isle. Photographs by Philipp Von Hessen.
Fanfair

101 30 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE
Oscar Niemeyer's modern beauty. The Cultural Divide. A. M. Homes on Florence Broadhurst's legacy; Kate Reardon as Emily Post for a new generation. John Brodie kicks back in Wasp Style; Olivia Strand layers it on. Elissa Schappell's Hot Type. Victoria Mather raises a glass to iconic bars around the world. Private Lives—Lisa Eisner gets a house tour from the Boyds. My Stuff—Fiona Kotur Marin; Bruce Handy reviews Year of the Dog; Lisa Robinson listens to Deborah Lippmann's Vinyl. Emily Poenisch gets made up organically with Stella McCartney; Hot Looks; Judy Bachrach sniffs around Ojai.

Columns

130 HOLIDAY IN IRAQ
Saddam Hussein's chemical warfare left the provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan utterly devastated; in 1991 the Gulf War gave them a chance to rebuild. Intrigued by an ad for investment in the region, Christopher Hitchens returns, to find the most hopeful vision yet of a free Iraq.

136 CAUGHT IN THE SPIN CYCLE
After covering Lewis "Scooter" Libby's perjury trial, Michael Wolff identifies the real crime involved: how the West Wing message machine sold America a needless war. Illustration by Daniel Adel.

146 IRAQ'S MERCENARY KING
When the Pentagon awarded Aegis Defence Services a $293 million contract to coordinate thousands of private military contractors, its British C.E.O., Tim Spicer, became de facto commander of the second-largest army in Iraq. Looking into Spicer's tumultuous past, Robert Baer explores the shadowy world of the modern gun for hire.

158 CITY OF FEAR
In May 2006, São Paulo was brought to its knees by a prison gang, whose cell-phone-coordinated attack shut down Brazil's largest metropolis, and whose word is still law in the city's vast slums. William Langewiesche delves into the dark side of globalization.

178 LAST OF BREED
Jonas Karlsson and David Friend spotlight photojournalist David Douglas Duncan, whose new book recalls the way his dachshund, Lump, became his friend Picasso's unlikely muse.

180 BRITS BEHAVING BADLY
Instead of their tired, their poor, and their huddled masses, it seems the British have given New York their dilettantes, their cheapskates, and their snobbish cliques. At Soho House and other expat haunts, A. A. Gill wonders how anyone can stand his compatriots. Illustration by André Carrilho.

186 WHEN GALANOS SPELLED GLAMOUR
As designer James Galanos broke fashion-industry records, with devotees such as Rosalind Russell and Nancy Reagan spanning half a century, he kept his eye on a single ball: beautiful—and beautifully made—clothes. Amy Fine Collins details the re-inventions of a master.

Vanities

201 WILD CHILD
Nell Scovell eavesdrops on the rich; John Malkovich transforms into an ingenue, a vile construction worker, and a drug dealer; what was then and what is now. George Wayne develops a rapport with Will Arnett.

Et Cetera

66 EDITOR'S LETTER
All the Presidents' Men (and Women)

68 CONTRIBUTORS

82 LETTERS
The High Price of Oil. Postscript

128 PLANETARIUM
Fresh Aries

287 FAIRGROUND
Another opener, another show

290 CREDITS

292 PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE
Helen Thomas

[Laurab]

1. I do! I love it - they've done some of the best reporting around

concerning this administration, I love the Editor's letter by Graydon Carter, every article, (and there are always a LOT) is so very well written. I read a lot, and Vanity Fair takes me as long to read as a book.

The best part is that it's cheap - not on the newstand, but by subscription. I just paid $15.00 to renew, and you can get it even cheaper if you buy a subscription on Ebay, which is where I first got it (if they still have them). I think it was $9.99 for a year.....

[Missy Vixen]

2. I've been reading "Vanity Fair" for the past fifteen years

There are few publications that consistently cover politics as well as VF.

IMHO, YMMV,
Julie

[Stephanie]

3. But where is Dominick Dunne?

I miss DD!

[WinkyDink]

5. Gone. Not hip enough, apparently (although I liked reading of old-time society mavens!).

[WinkyDink]

4. I subscribe.

[Kceres]

6. Love this rag but my 10-year--old son told me the photos were "sexist." I'm proud.

[Rydz777]

7. $ 12 + $ 3

I enjoy Vanity Fair. It's well written and full of fascinating stuff. What galls me, however, is the way they pretend the subscription rate is $ 12 and then add $ 3 for postage and handling. Even I can see through that little ploy. It's worth $ 15 and I wish they'd admit it.

[AlCzervik]

8. VF is an excellent read and when i called them about all perfume samples they

started sending me issues without them.