Endless Summers

Throughout his dazzling but controversial career—top World Bank economist, Treasury secretary, Harvard University president, and now head of the White House National Economic Council—Larry Summers has been his own worst enemy.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Dec 1, 2009
Length: 32 minutes (8,239 words)

A Crime of Shadows

After months of prowling Internet chat rooms, posing as the mother of two young daughters, Detective Michele Deery thought she had a live one: “parafling,” a married, middle-aged man who claimed he wanted to have sex with her kids. But was he just playing a twisted game of seduction?

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Dec 1, 2009
Length: 18 minutes (4,546 words)

The Trouble with Harry’s

With the cosmopolitan magic that had launched his father’s fabled Harry’s Bar in Venice a half-century earlier, restaurateur Arrigo Cipriani swooped in to conquer New York café society in 1985, then left his dashing son, Giuseppe, to build a citywide nightlife empire.

Author: Mark Seal
Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Dec 1, 2009
Length: 17 minutes (4,485 words)

My Father, the Terrorist

A son of Osama bin Laden paints an intimate portrait of the man who would become the world’s most infamous terrorist.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Oct 28, 2009
Length: 8 minutes (2,112 words)

Letterman and Me

One of the few women ever to write for Late Night with David Letterman, the author (a longtime V.F. contributor) remembers a hostile, sexually charged atmosphere. What’s to be done? Start by breaking late night’s all-male gag order.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Oct 27, 2009
Length: 35 minutes (8,754 words)

Confessions of an Opium-Seeker

Driven by romantic, spiritual, and medicinal imperatives, the author goes in search of something everyone tells him no longer exists: an opium den.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Sep 1, 2000
Length: 11 minutes (2,778 words)

Norman Rockwell’s American Dream

America is re-discovering one of its most underappreciated and misunderstood artists: Norman Rockwell.

Author: David Kamp
Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Nov 1, 2009
Length: 25 minutes (6,254 words)

Me and Mrs. Palin

When his (pregnant) girlfriend’s mom ran for vice president and he was thrust into the national spotlight, Levi Johnston found his life spinning out of control. In an exclusive look back, the author tells editors at Vanity Fair about everyday life chez Palin—where the kids are in charge, Dad is threatening divorce, and Sarah the moose-hunting, stew-cooking hockey mom of legend is nowhere to be found. He also offers some eye-opening scenes from the campaign trail and the birth of his and Bristol’s baby.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Oct 1, 2009
Length: 21 minutes (5,478 words)

LeBron’s Band of Brothers

In an excerpt from his new book, the NBA’s biggest star recalls the team that made him: five kids who challenged themselves, one another, and their community, going all the way to the bittersweet final game that would make them National Champions.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Sep 1, 2009
Length: 33 minutes (8,458 words)

Killer@Craigslist

The “Craigslist Murder” was a crime made possible by the Internet, and the prime suspect was apprehended through online sleuthing. But the killing of Julissa Brisman allegedly by Boston University medical student Philip Markoff is still a very human mystery, with dark sexual overtones and surprising contradictions.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Oct 1, 2009
Length: 30 minutes (7,583 words)