VANITY FAIR

Features

THE GIRL OF SUMMER Renee Zellweger is America's new sweetheart—and her Me, Myself & Irene co-star Jim Carrey's too. But Ned Zeman finds the girl next door in London, fattening up for Bridget Jones's Diary and reflecting on life's ironies. Photographs by Peggy Sirota.114

THE MYSTERY AT NO. 10 Late-night feedings and dirty diapers should seem easy to British prime minister and new father Tony Blaircompared to the slings and arrows of his day job. David Margolick explains why Blair is nevertheless certain of another term. 120

ONE FOR THE ROAD Annie Leibovitz and Lisa Robinson spotlight director Cameron Crowe's Untitled, a dead-on evocation of his youthful adventures as a reporter covering the 1970s rock scene.126

THE GODS OF TECH Meet the men who really invented the Internet—and the microchip, and the P.C., and the mouse. Christian Witkin snaps a virtual group portrait of the pioneers of the Digital Age as Alan Deutschman tells how they paved the way for the I.P.O. generation. 130

DISCO INFERNO Chris Paciello rose quickly from the streets of Staten Island to become a South Beach club king. Was it his talent or his alleged Mafia connections? As Paciello faces trial, Suzanna Andrews investigates his past, and a brutal 1993 killing. 136

THE AMIS PAPERS In a new memoir, Martin Amis portrays himself as the victim of bad teeth and a distant father. Reading it against Kingsley Amis's just-published letters, James Wolcott spots the lesser of two devils 142

CHRISTMAS IN JULY He's a mean one, and he's ace rubber face Jim Carrey's latest role. David Kamp previews Ron Howard's live-action take on a Dr. Seuss classic and learns why the Grinch stole Christmas. 148

ARTIST, INTERRUPTED Marking the first full-scale retrospective of Alice Neel's work, Ingrid Sischy traces the drama of a neglected portrait painter whose genius triumphed over adversity 150

THE TALENTED MR. LONERGAN In the tabloid sensation of 1943, bisexual fortune hunter Wayne Lonergan brutally murdered his socialite wife. Dominick Dunne recalls a trial that introduced mainstream America to the perversions of the truly swell.156

Columns.

PEOPLE WHO BREED PEOPLE And then there were ... six billion. In the fight against overpopulation, China's one-child policy is the most extreme solution. Christopher Hitchens looks for a better way.40

CELEBRITY'S LITTLE HELPERS Interviewing personal assistants to the rich and famous, Evgenia Peretz discovers that total devotion to the boss can be a ticket to the high life—or to the depths of humiliation. Photographs by Michael Lewis. 50

HALL OF FAME Michael Shnayerson nominates Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, for using big ideas, diplomatic muscle, and hope to battle a Third World epidemic. Portrait by Jonas Karlsson. 82

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BEFORE THE BRONCO Bruce McCall tailgates the S.U.V.'s of a 50s-family fantasy. America never had it so good. 84

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF ATTITUDE Yaddo, in upstate New York, has given John Cheever, Truman Capote, and Philip Roth—among many others—rooms of their own. At its centennial, Michael Shnayerson chronicles the creative haven's rivalries, pranks, and bed-hopping. 88

Vanities

DUSHKU? I HARDLY KNOW YOU! Nan Darien is in where else?—the Hamptons. The next tycoon? A look at Hollywood-agency mailrooms. Intelligence Report: Las Vegas. Ed Coaster pushes his luck. 105

Fanfair

31 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE Vive la photographie!— Europe's largest photo festival kicks off in Arles; celebrate your independence with Calendar Girl; Siobhan McDevitt on Mel Gibson's The Patriot; Bruce Handy on Me, Myself & Irene; Walter Kirn glimpses Hollow Man; Henry Alford reviews Driving Mr. Albert; Jamie James treks to Glimmerglass; Lisa Robinson on Brit-pop icon Richard Ashcroft; David Colman meets Chuck & Buck; Steve Garbarino on matchbox style; Henry Porter surveys A&E's Longitude; living in Sim—Melissa Davis delves into the bizarre on-line world of "The Sims". 185

Et Cetera

EDITOR'S LETTER: Right Place, Right Time.................... 30

CONTRIBUTORS. 32

LETTERS: Blame Calendar Boy. 36

CREDITS. 183

PLANETARIUM: Fasten your seat belt, Cancer 198

PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE: Sting. 200