Cover Story 
272   ISN’T SHE DENEUVELY?   
                After five nominations, Kate Winslet may get the Oscar
                she deserves, doubling-down with back-to-back tours
                de force in The Reader and Revolutionary Road.
                Invoking France’s cinematic queen, Catherine Deneuve,
                for photographer Steven Meisel, the 33-year-old Brit tells
                Krista Smith about re-igniting the on-screen flame with 
                Leonardo DiCaprio, life as a New York mom, and her 
                continuing struggle with her self-image. 
                Web special: More Winslet.

Features
278   ONE KNIGHT AT BIRDLAND 
                Bruce Weber and Bruce Handy spotlight jazz master 
                Sir George Shearing, who is riffing toward his 90th
                birthday. 

280   THE SECRETS OF HIS SUCCESSION 
                Building an empire is one thing; founding a dynasty is 
                another. At Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., all eyes
                and ears have been on the balance of power among his
                four older kids and the ascent of his third wife, Wendi
                Deng. In an excerpt from his new book on Murdoch,
                Michael Wolff profiles a family with issues. 
                Portrait by Annie Leibovitz. 

288   THE LAUGH SUPPER 
                Peggy Sirota and Rich Cohen spotlight Judd Apatow,
                king of 21st-century comedy, whose next ensemble film,
                Funny People, stars one of his oldest pals: Adam Sandler.
 
290   THE TWILIGHT ZONE 
                The phenomenal, Harry Potter–like success of Stephenie
                Meyer’s teen vampire book series, “The Twilight Saga,” 
                and other bloodsucking best-sellers has Hollywood 
                sharpening its teeth. From this month’s Twilight movie to
                the new HBO series True Blood, James Wolcott checks
                out the beautiful and the fanged of the Gossip Girl 
                generation. Photographs by Peggy Sirota. 
                Web special: Video and outtakes from the photo shoot. 

294   VOICE OF AMERICA 
                Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Diane Johnson 
                spotlight Toni Morrison, whose book A Mercy goes
                deep into the U.S. psyche. 

296   THE NEW YORK TIMES’S LONELY WAR 
                With most of the U.S. media withdrawn from Iraq, 
                only The New York Times seems determined to stay
                the course. From inside the paper’s fortified Baghdad
                bureau, Seth Mnookin reveals the psychological and 
                physical dangers that have faced the likes of John F. 
                Burns, Dexter Filkins, and Alissa J. Rubin as the 
                dramatic headlines of 2003 turned into a complex,
                difficult story that no one wants to read. Photographs by 
                Benjamin Lowy and Jonas Karlsson.

302   FRANCO CUM LAUDE 
                Doug Inglish and David Kamp spotlight James Franco, 
                the sleep-deprived star of this month’s Harvey Milk 
                biopic.

304   IT HAPPENED IN HITSVILLE 
                Fifty years ago, songwriter and impresario Berry 
                Gordy Jr. decided that the musicians he discovered 
                should get paid, so he started his own label
                —Motown—which would change the racial and 
                musical landscape of America. The men and women
                behind 100-plus chart toppers give Lisa Robinson an 
                oral history of life at the Detroit studio known as 
                Hitsville—and what really happened with the Supremes.
                Web special: Photos from behind the scenes.

316   THE MONARCHS OF MOTOWN 
                Berry Gordy Jr., Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves,
                Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, and other Motown 
                legends pose for a historic portfolio by Annie Leibovitz.
 
FANFAIR

153      31 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE 
             Center stage: dancer Roberto Bolle leaps onto the 
              American scene
156       The Cultural Divide
158       Elissa Schappell’s Hot Type
160       A. M. Homes votes for Milk; Bruce Handy hits the jackpot 
              with Slumdog Millionaire; Leslie Bennetts spotlights 
              Horton Foote
162       Mountaintop dining reaches new heights
166       My Desk—Richard Meier
168       Private Lives—the Webster heats up Miami’s fashion scene
170       My Stuff—Mark Ronson; Damian Woetzel celebrates 
              50 years of Alvin Ailey
172       Punch Hutton’s annual holiday Hot Gifts
180       The season’s best beauty booty; John Ortved discovers
              L’Occitane’s leading ladies

Columns

190   WALL STREET LAYS ANOTHER EGG 
          Tracing the global financial system from its Renaissance 
          origins, through the Great Depression, to 21st-century
          Detroit, economic historian Niall Ferguson makes sense of 
          a senseless crisis, explaining how Planet Finance imploded.

206   BLOOMBERG WITHOUT BLOOMBERG 
          With its ruthless competitiveness, its singular business
          model,and its bizarre editorial culture, Bloomberg News 
          has continued to expand even as the media business 
          shrivels.Under the new stewardship of former Time Inc. 
          chief Norman Pearlstine, reports Seth Mnookin, the 
          brainchild of New York’s mayor is poised to become 
          the most consulted news source in the world. 
          Photographs by Nigel Parry.

220   FROM MAYFAIR TO DUBAI 
          Over the past few years, Richard Caring has acquired a 
          virtual monopoly on elite London dining establishments: 
          Annabel’s, the Ivy, Le Caprice, and a dozen more. 
          Can he turn their snob appeal into a global empire? Evgenia 
          Peretz catches up with the increasingly high-profile 
          restaurateur as his plans for a luxury franchise draw squeals 
          of outrage from Mayfair society.

230   HALL OF FAME 
          Amy Fine Collins nominates Dawn Russell, who has joined
          with Estée Lauder to give teenage girls a boost (and a spritz)
          of self-esteem. Portrait by Pamela Hanson.

232   HOUSE OF WAR 
          In Kosovo’s fight for independence from Serbia, Ramush 
          Haradinaj’s savage victories earned him the nickname
          “Rambo”—and the post of interim prime minister—before
          landing him in front of a war-crimes tribunal in The Hague.
          After an acquittal, William Langewiesche follows Haradinaj 
          home, to learn the only law that he and his clan obey. 
          Photographs by Jonas Karlsson.

254   THE MANSION TRAP 
          Veronica DeGruyter Beracasa de Uribe swept publishing 
          scion Randolph Hearst off his feet—and to the top of New
          York and Palm Beach society. Seven years after his death, 
          her Hearst stepdaughters were astonished to find she was
          $45 million in debt. Vicky Ward traces a proud widow’s 
          financial spiral, beginning with the mortgage on a house she
          couldn’t afford: her 52-room Florida villa.

VANITIES

267    PALMER D’OR
268    Cormac McCarthy cooks pasta with Craig Brown; Howard 
            Schatz captures Greg Kinnear in character
270    Henry Alford gets rappers confused with desserts; That Was
            Then and This Is Now

Et Cetera
114   EDITOR’S LETTER
118   CONTRIBUTORS
138   LETTERS 
          The Last of Marilyn; Postscript; Web special: more letters
183   FAIRGROUND
339   CREDITS
342   PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE 
          Roger Moore