For contributing editor Marjorie Williams, dissecting the complex, bitter relationship between Bill Clinton and A1 Gore was like hearing both sides of a messy divorce—former aides and loyalists were full of opinions on what went wrong. “I loved reporting this story,” Williams says, “because there’s nothing more interesting to a journalist than to come along at the moment when participants finally feel free to let down their hair on a subject they’ve thought about for years.”

Married for a decade to journalist Timothy Noah, Williams adds, “The only wisdom I can offer is that Clinton and Gore probably aren’t the marriage model anyone should follow.” In addition to covering politics for V.F., Williams writes a nationally syndicated weekly opinion column for The Washington Post.

When contributing editor David Margolick had a chance encounter with Jeb Bush at a party thrown by Florida lobbyists, he was pleasantly surprised to receive a compliment on his investigative technique from the Florida governor. “I know all about you. I’m hearing from Andover classmates I haven’t heard from for 30 years,” Bush told him, referring to old friends whom Margolick had been doggedly tracking down for his profile on page 92. In Margolick’s opinion, Bush revels in politics, power, and being governor: “He is right at home when he is at the center of things.” Margolick is currently working on a book about the 1936 and 1938 heavyweight bouts between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling.

Due out this month from HarperCollins and excerpted on page 116, The Catsitters, James Wolcott's first novel, chronicles the adventures of New York bachelor Johnny Downs as he’s molded into “husband material” by best friend Darlene Ryder, a cunning southern belle. “I basically put myself through the experiences that Johnny had,” says Wolcott, who has lived in New York since 1972. “It was fun and nerve-racking. If the date didn’t work out, then I’d think, Well, that’s good material.” Now married to fellow V.F. contributing editor and novelist Laura Jacobs, Wolcott will write his next novel about couples, careerists, and intellectual groupies, and the games they play.

Christine Keeler, the young model whose revelations of sexual impropriety and Cold War-era spying helped to bring down Harold Macmillan’s Conservative government in 1964, says that after nearly 40 years of infamy she finally feels brave enough to tell the complete story of the Profumo Affair. “I had wanted to tell the truth before,” she says, “but I was always in fear for my life. I still am. But I need to tell it for my own emotional well-being, to make peace with myself.” Her story, The Truth at Last, co-written with biographer Douglas Thompson and published in the U.K. by Macmillan Publishers, Ltd., is excerpted on page 118. Today, Keeler lives in London and works as a freelance broadcaster and columnist.

Acclaimed singer, songwriter, and actor Tom Waits, who has released more than 20 albums and whose films include Down by Law and Short Cuts, hates to be interviewed, and found it no easier to be on the other end. “I felt an immediate connection talking with J.T. [LeRoy],” says Waits, referring to the 21-year-old cult author. “But journalism is like being eaten alive by ants. Details. Details. Details.” Waits is currently in the studio with his wife and collaborator, Kathleen Brennan, recording songs from Alice and Woyzeck, the two award-winning street operas they staged in Europe with theater director Robert Wilson.

“I am far more than a fan. I am a groupie!” says contributing artist Hilary Knight about Dame Edna, whose advice column he illustrates for Vanity Fair. Knight first saw Dame Edna Off Broadway about 15 years ago, but it wasn’t until a year ago that the two actually met. “It was electric,” Knight says. And when Knight suggested that they work on a project together, Dame Edna loved the idea. The bond was instant—“nothing like it since I met Kay Thompson in the 50s,” says Knight. That meeting produced Eloise, the beloved classic. Knight and Dame Edna hope that their collaboration evolves into a book.