VANITY FAIR

Volume 56 Number 4

April 1993

Features

Stone Goddess: Sharon Stone has hit the exalted heights as one of Hollywood's "goddamn goddesses.'' Kevin Sessums catches up with her on the set of her next erotic thriller, Sliver. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz. 156

Stylists of theTimes: Richard Corman spotlights Maureen Dowd and the new crowd of journalists who have spearheaded a renaissance of writing at the Paper of Record. 162

The Unspeakable Passage—Is There a Male Menopause? Gail Sheehy investigates the male potency crisis that could affect as many as 27 million American men by the year 2010. 164

The Selling of Saint Laurent: Bryan Burrough reports from Paris on the real story behind the $650 million blockbuster sale of the YSL fashion empire to one of France's state-owned mega-conglomerates. 168

Somebody Knows: In an exclusive excerpt from Dominick Dunne's new novel, A Season in Purgatory, a young girl is killed by the son of a prominent East Coast, Irish Catholic family. Worse than the crime, though, is the cover-up. 176

Society Grunge: Steven Meisel shoots unlikely grunge wearers, including Liz Smith, Joan Rivers, and Blaine Trump. Styled by Marina Schiano. 180

Blueblood War: A branch of the du Pont family is bending under the weight of a father-son feud. Maureen Orth gets an earful of extraordinary accusations. 184

An Eye for the Forbidden: Joel-Peter Witkin finds a transcendent beauty in even the most grotesque subjects. Richard B. Woodward visits the controversial photographer at home in Albuquerque. 190

Scotti Beams Up: Bruce Weber photographs Nick Scotti, who, thanks to Madonna, is a hot new singer-songwriter. 196

Columns

Editor's Letter: Family plots. 8

Cultural Elite: Christopher Hitchens jumps into the P.C. fray over the late Philip Larkin's explosive letters. 80

Dispatches: Christopher Dickey reports on the humanitarian war being waged in Somalia and Sarajevo by the founder of Medecins sans Frontieres. 92

Music: Albert Innaurato sights opera's most dynamic new star, Cecilia Bartoli. 112

Crime: In Detroit, Ron Rosenbaum stalks a serial strangler with one of the F.B.I.'s best agents—and most unpopular authors. 112

Planetarium: Time for Aries to ram it home. 236

Vanities

Everybody comes to Swifty's; the point of Shonen Knife; Wegman's Cinderella—it's a dog's life; a club named Jackie; Jay Mclnerney buys a round at Elaine's; all the very best people are paparazzi. 139

Et Cetera

Letters: Heat-seeking missives. 54

Flashback: Harold Lloyd, January 1928 238

Credits. 234