VANITY FAIR

ON VANITYFAIR.COM THIS MONTH:

• EXCLUSIVE VIDEO FROM THE DAKOTA FANNING AND DREAMCIRLS PHOTO SHOOTS • MICHAEL LUTIN READS AMERICA'S HOROSCOPE—AND YOURS

FEATURES

82 NEO CULPA The war in Iraq is a fiasco—just ask the neoconservatives who pushed America into it. In exclusive interviews with Richard Perle, Kenneth Adelman, David Frum, and others, David Rose gets an earful of wouldas, couldas, and shouldas. Photographs by Nigel Parry.

92 GIRLS GOTTA DREAM! With his Chicago screenplay, Bill Condon turned one hit musical into an Oscar-winning movie. Now he's filmed Dreamgirls, with Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, and Eddie Murphy. Peter Biskind has the scoop. Photographs by Mark Seliger.

100 DON'T ASK... DON'T E-MAIL Once, Mark Foley was an ambitious young Democrat, testing the waters in Palm Beach's gay community. Switching to the G.O.P. eased his path to Congress, but it also pushed him deep into the closet—until his e-mails to under-age former pages hit the news. Gail Sheehy and Judy Bachrach expose what Foley's party wanted hidden.

104 RUTHLESS WITH SCISSORS Writing about his dysfunctional childhood helped Augusten Burroughs heal—and get rich. But the foster family he excoriated is now suing for libel. Meeting the real-life "Finches,"

Buzz Bissinger wonders who traumatized whom. Photographs by Jonas Karlsson.

110 ROYAL TREATMENT Snowdon and Tamasin Day-Lewis spotlight screenwriter Peter Morgan, the brain behind not one but two of this year's top Oscar contenders.

112 CINDERELLA IN SNEAKERS At 12, Dakota Fanning is Hollywood's little princess, with a $3 million paycheck and dibs on every girl role in town. As Karl Lagerfeld snaps her fairy tale, she tells Jim Windolf about starring in Charlotte's Web and partying with "Bob"—De Niro, that is.

118 PRISONER OF KEY WEST A deadly storm marooned Peter Halmos and his 158-foot yacht in a Florida wildlife refuge. A year later, the exasperated mogul is still stuck.

Bryan Burrough reports from the starboard bow, where Halmos keeps busy filing lawsuits and fending off pirates. Photographs by Cameron Davidson and Nina Bramhall.

122SKETCHBOOK Dan Adel takes a chisel to Mount Rushmore, re-carving it with the faces of four of our most disastrous presidents.

FOR DETAILS, SEE CREDITS PAGE

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124 THE ESQUIRE DECADE With the editorial genius of Harold Hayes and the visual punch of George Lois's covers, Esquire nailed the 60s. Hearing from New Journalism stars such as Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese, Frank DiGiacomo relives the second coming of the American magazine.

FANFAIR

35 31 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE Scandalous notes: Bill Nighy. The Cultural Divide. Elissa Schappell's Hot Type. Matt Tyrnauer re-discovers Chiaia.

COLUMNS

54WHY WOMEN AREN'T FUNNY Men pride themselves on making women laugh, but the favor is rarely returned. Or so insists Christopher Hitchens, provoking half of humanity as he tries to explain the humor gap.

60 COURAGE, KATIE! When Katie Couric made her CBS Evening News debut, viewers flocked—and then fled. James Wolcott advises Her Bubbliness to simmer down.

64 RACE AGAINST TERROR For 27 years, a violent radical group called November 17 terrorized Athens. Nicholas Gage reveals how a small team of investigators finally cracked the conspiracy, just in time for Greece's Olympic homecoming, in 2004.

VANITIES

79 ALICE IN WONDERLAND What was then, what is now; Dick Cheney's Google searches; Howard Schatz captures Amy Poehler in character.

ET CETERA

22 EDITOR'S LETTER

24 CONTRIBUTORS

30 LETTERS Hell and Haditha

48 PLANETARIUM Special Alert: Horoscope U.S.A.

159 FAIRGROUND Around the World, One Party at a Time

164 CREDITS

166 PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE Norman Mailer

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