CONTRIBUTORS

1 Truman Capote

Truman Capote took New York by storm when, at 23, he published his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms. His literary triumphs continued with Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood. Now "Yachts and Things" (page 208)—a chapter fragment likely meant for his unfinished novel, Answered Prayers—has reappeared. "This recently discovered vignette is a literary gem for us all to cherish," says the author's literary executor, Alan Schwartz.

2 Sam Kashner

As contributing editor Sam Kashner chronicles in "Capote's Swan Dive" (page 200), Truman Capote's uphill battle with Answered Prayers paralleled the author's slide down New York's social ladder. "After In Cold Blood, I think he longed for another great literary moment. And what better subject than the gods and goddesses he knew," says Kashner. "Truman, like Edith Wharton, knew society was made up of killers using good manners instead of machine guns."

3 Vanessa Grigoriadis

In "Tory Burch's Ex Factor" (page 192), contributing editor Vanessa Grigoriadis delves into the contentious business relationship between designer Tory Burch and her ex-husband Chris Burch. "This is a test of wills," says Grigoriadis. "I was surprised by how much the two of them could have shared the same experiences, yet have processed them in such different ways."

4 James Fox

In "The Riddle of Kate Moss" (page 156 ), frequent V.F. contributor and author of White Mischief James Fox details the career of Kate Moss nearly 25 years after she was discovered at J.F.K. Airport. Fox, her longtime friend, says the supermodel's intoxicating presence hasn't lost its allure. "Two years ago, I left the Moss suite at the Paris Ritz at five A.M. and hadn't even had a drink."

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1 Roger Moore

Sir Roger Moore, who spotlights Aleksey Igudesman and Hyung-ki Joo, on page 177, is best known as Simon Templar on The Saint and for playing James Bond. Moore's impact on the latter role—using puns and charm as weapons—was perhaps greater than Sean Connery's. "I was furnished with terrific one-liners," says Moore. "In The Man with the Golden Gun, Bond points a rifle at a man's crotch and says, 'Speak now or forever hold your piece.' "

2 William Langewiesche

As the magazine's international correspondent, William Langewiesche has spent considerable time abroad, much of it with the American military. "The Expendables" (page 142) provides a very different perspective on military life: "Everyone's heard about the Foreign Legion, but I wanted to find out what it is today, not what it was in some romanticized yesterday."

3 David Kamp

Contributing editor David Kamp confesses to having had some stage fright prior to interviewing Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey's creator and the subject of "The Most Happy Fellowes" (page 170)—after all, the show hinges on "a precise concern with the correct behavior and ways of the upper class," says Kamp. But it was all for naught. "I was relieved to discover what funny, delightful company he is."

4 Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

"She would have made an excellent rock star in another life," says fashion and style director Jessica Diehl of this month's cover subject, Kate Moss. Provocative photographers Mert & Marcus used the supermodel's "naughtier side" to create the playful blonde vixen on page 156. "The instant the camera turns on, she becomes the Kate Moss," says Diehl.

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1 Paul Goldberger

For contributing editor Paul Goldberger, the New York Public Library is a subject that hits home. "It's been a fixture in my life," says Goldberger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and the author of Why Architecture Matters. In "Firestorm on Fifth Avenue" (page 180), he reports on the library's controversial renovation. "It's a contemporary drama that involves so much history."

2 Todd Eberle

Shooting the famed Fifth Avenue branch of the New York Public Library for "Firestorm on Fifth Avenue" (page 180) allowed photographer-at-large Todd Eberle to fulfill a longtime dream. "Ever since arriving in New York City, in 1985, I've wanted to properly capture the absolute spectacle of the Rose Main Reading Room," says Eberle. "I can't think of any other public space that has its soul so fully intact."

3 Tom Freston

Before becoming Vanity Fair's globe-trotting Man in Kabul, Tom Freston was the C.E.O. of both MTV Networks and Viacom. For this month's V.F. Portrait, on page 178, he profiles Aung San Suu Kyi, whose fight to liberate Burma has attracted international attention. "I think there is a hunger for authentic heroes," says Freston, "the kind we read about in history books." Freston visits Burma frequently, working with a school and orphanage in the country's Shan State.

4 Evgenia Peretz

While reporting for "Palace Intrigue" (page 134), contributing editor Evgenia Peretz saw stark differences between the political mores of the United States and France, where President Francois Hollande is snared in a love triangle. "That Hollande—who had an affair with the woman covering him in the press while the mother of his children ran for president—could successfully campaign as Mr. Ordinary speaks volumes about French culture," says Peretz.