Features
THE PROFESSOR OF WAR
| 102
Two and a half years ago, leading the Iraq surge, General David Petraeus was a piñata for top Democrats. Today, he’s the White House’s military guru, overseeing every hot spot from Afghanistan to Iran. Mark Bowden finds out how Petraeus revolutionized the way America fights, and why he’s a living army legend. Photographs by Jonas Fredwall Karlsson.
THAR SHE DEBUTS| 109
Matthew Guerrieri and Steve Pyke spotlight the opera Moby-Dick, in time for its world premiere in Dallas.
THE TEMPTATION OF TIGER WOODS | 110
Despite all the tabloid tales about Tiger Woods’s dalliances, a clear picture of how and why he conducted them has been elusive. Mark Seal peels back the curtain on Woods’s secret world, while Mark Seliger photographs the women who inhabited it.
THE MADDEST OF MAD TEA PARTIES | 119
Edward Sorel sketches Sarah Palin’s Tea Party—the Wonderland version—while Richard Lingeman eavesdrops.
THE MET’S GRAND GAMBLE| 120
After four years at the helm of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb has shaken things up, some say too dramatically. Can he win a new generation of fans and donors before the Met’s perilous finances implode? Nina Munk goes behind the curtain. Photographs by Raymond Meier.
BRUCE WASSERSTEIN’S LAST SURPRISE | 128
Ever secretive about his personal life, Bruce Wasserstein knew how to gain an edge by keeping his cards close to the vest. William D. Cohan probes the legacy of a famed deal-maker, whose mysterious death in October has led to a divided obituary—especially on his leadership of Lazard.
THE GREAT PERSUADER | 133
Nathaniel Rich and Norman Jean Roy spotlight showbiz Über-macher Jerry Weintraub, who’s got a story to sell.
IT’S RAINING, MEN
| 135
Laura Jacobs and Michael Roberts spotlight the male stars of Fox’s
Glee
,
in a designer-clad homage to Gene Kelly.
ON THE COVER
Grace Kelly, photographed in 1955 by Howell Conant in the Hollywood Hills house she rented while shooting
The Swan,
one of the last movies she made before marrying Prince Rainier III of Monaco, in 1956.
GRACE KELLY’S FOREVER LOOK| 136
Whether in a prim chiffon skirt (Rear Window), a classical gown (To Catch a Thief), or the dress in which she married Monaco’s Prince Rainier, Grace Kelly wore white like none other. As a new show on Kelly’s style opens in London, Laura Jacobs highlights the passionate woman beneath the actress’s alabaster façade
.
Fanfair
31 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE
|
55
Bright Young Things: Nina Clemente’s culinary ambitions
| 55
The Cultural Divide
| 56
Elissa Schappell’s Hot Type; Night-Table Reading
| 58
My Stuff—David Chang; Matt Pressman applauds
American Idiot
| 60
Bob Colacello tours the fashionable Château de Haroué; David Yurman’s dazzling new store; don’t leave home without Taxi Cards
| 62
Casino Jack
cashes in;
Kick-Ass
is victorious; Bruce Handy reviews
Please Give
| 64
Chantecaille’s aquatic initiative; Julien Farel moves south of the border; Olivia Strand checks into Hôtel Le Bristol; spring Hot Looks
| 66
Vanities
GRAND LARSON-Y
|
69
Bruce Handy and Ross MacDonald pay tribute to Corporate History Month
| 70
Bruce Feirstein juxtaposes Obama the candidate with Obama the president
| 72
Columns
HOT-AIR BALLOONS
|
74
Meet the pseudo-candidates—Lou Dobbs, Larry Kudlow, Mort Zuckerman, et al.—basking in the spotlight as they ponder political campaigns. James Wolcott votes nay.
DISCOVERING FLORENCE
|
76
Lisa Robinson and Julian Broad spotlight British sensation
Florence Welch, as Florence and the Machine head into their first U.S. tour.
AT EASE
General David H. Petraeus with the 731st Airlift Squadron| 102
THE
TIME
OF THEIR LIVES
| 78
Yale grads Henry Luce and Briton Hadden took on the media establishment in 1923 with their upstart “news-magazine.” In an excerpt from his new Luce biography, Alan Brinkley recounts the exhilarating, grueling launch of
Time.
ON SPEAKEASY STREET
| 86
David Friend and Edward Sorel spotlight Daniel Okrent’s spirited new history of Prohibition.
THE GODFATHER OF SOLE
| 88
With devotees including Angelina Jolie, Oprah, and Lady Gaga, Christian Louboutin can count on his most costly and unwearable shoes’ being snapped up. Vanessa Grigoriadis parses the intense triangle of designer, woman, and foot.
THE SEVEN WONDERS OF PRESTON STURGES
| 94
Preston Sturges’s life was as turbulently unpredictable as his movies, which briefly made him the third-highest-paid man in the U.S. Douglas McGrath explains why the director’s vision resonated with W.W. II America—and holds up today.
THANK HEAVEN FOR LERNER AND LOEWE
| 100
Michael Feinstein and Steve Pyke spotlight the New York Pops, now topping its year with classic
Broadway sparkle.
ET CETERA
60 MINUTES
POLL
| 22
OUT TO LUNCH
AMANDA BURDEN
| 24
EDITOR’S LETTER
| 28
CONTRIBUTORS
| 34
LETTERS
HERE’S LOOKING AT HUGHES
| 38
FAIRGROUND
| 44
PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE
BILL MAHER
| 164
Vanityfair.com
THIS MONTH’S ONLINE EXCLUSIVES
Pay a visit to VF Daily for the latest on scandals, movies, society, Washington, the war in Afghanistan, and more.
Also: Brett Berk recaps each episode of
Glee
.
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.