Contributors

Ann PATCHETT

"THE BOOK OF REESE" P. 54

Patchett first encountered Reese Witherspoon on the cover of Nashville magazine. "She was 15 and had just starred in The Man in the Moon," says the author of The Dutch House. "I felt so proud because she lived in my hometown." For V.F.'s cover story, the two bibliophiles met at Parnassus Books, the Nashville bookstore co-owned by Patchett.

Jesse HYDE

"THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE" P. 84

"This is a climate change story. But it's also a story of greed and consumption," says the Salt Lake Citybased writer, whose report on the Amazon rain forest was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center. "it made me question what we're losing in the unrelenting march of what we consider industrial and technological progress."

Lisa ABEND

"PUBLISH OR PERISH" P. 94

Copenhagen-based journalist and author of The Sorcerer's Apprentices Lisa Abend says she was initially intrigued by the gap between Kinfolk magazine's "vision of a perfect, curated life, and the messy reality beneath the surface. It was only later that I realized there was a story about authenticity struggling to get out."

Anthony BREZNICAN

"WEST SIDE GLORY" P. 102

Steven Spielberg seems "committed to doing a version of West Side Story that uses the lens of discrimination and fear in the 1950s to examine those issues now," says Breznican, who has been covering the director for 15 years. "One time he took me on a golf cart tour of Universal's back lot, telling stories of sneaking on as a teen and finding work."

Hassan HAJJAJ

"LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN" P. 72

Hajjaj, who designs nearly every element of his complex, layered portraits, says he is "constantly inspired by the repeated patterns found in fabrics at the souks" in his native Morocco. A selftaught photographer, he spent 10 years throwing underground parties in London in the '80s, making him the perfect artist to capture this month's portfolio of DJs.