Vanity Fair Oct-14

1 1 Roald Dahl Perhaps the most celebrated children’s author, Roald Dahl wrote James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and, maybe most memorably, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In this month’s issue, to celebrate the book’s 50th anniversary, is a never-before-seen chapter of the 1964 classic (page 254). “His amazing, exaggerated, pure characters and trademark language are all on full display,” says Luke Kelly, Roald Dahl’s grandson and managing director of his literary estate. 2 Quentin Blake In a Vanity Fair exclusive, on page 254, illustrator Sir Quentin Blake brings an unpublished chapter of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to life. For many readers, Blake’s drawings—which appeared in nearly all of the author’s books—are as integral to the beloved stories as Dahl’s words. “Drawing the factory…

This issue marks the 20th anniversary of Vanity Fair’s New Establishment, a special report that, like so many things in life, was born out of equal measures of inspiration and desperation. The inspiration part gestated during a long, boozy lunch I had one day with David Halberstam. In addition to being a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter and a legend to us younger bit players, David was a longtime friend and a wise and generous adviser. I was foundering in those early years at Vanity Fair; advertising and circulation were down, and I was looking for a big idea that might help right the ship. David took me to lunch in the hope of cheering me up a bit. Over the course of our meal, he mentioned that, to his mind, America…

Governor Christie claims he’s not a bully, yet Bridgegate, as the event has been dubbed, suggests that’s not true [“Christieworld,” by Bryan Burrough, August]. Why would members of his inner circle dare to inconvenience thousands of New Jersey residents and place some lives in jeopardy during the fiasco that unfolded on the approach to the George Washington Bridge if they hadn’t been inspired by their boss’s behavior? President Harry Truman famously said, “The buck stops here,” in accepting responsibility for actions taken by members of his administration. The governor should man up and accept full responsibility for the events of September 9, 2013. Anything less suggests Christie suffers from a deep character flaw and should not be trusted in high government office. MEL PRAISSMAN Setauket, New York Articles involving Machiavellian…

This month’s survey concerns what Americans think about royals, nearly 240 years after we thought that was all settled. Our opinions, while perhaps not as radical as they were in 1776, are nevertheless still strong. We claim that if we were to find ourselves in the position of Great Britain’s Prince Harry—fourth in line to the throne—we’d know how to handle it: follow our own path, and not take our royal responsibilities too seriously. The “craziest” thing we’d do, if we were royal, is marry a commoner. (Four percent of us would consider— purely as an acting-out alternative, of course—beheading our spouse.) In the showbiz world, we have views regarding our favorrite portrayal of a royal figure (Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra), and we agree overwhelmingly with Mel Brooks that “it’s…

In the 70s, Gail Sheehy’s classic Passages shepherded readers through adulthood. In Daring: My Passages (Mor row), Sheehy (a V.F. contributing editor) recounts her own struggles on the rocky journey from 60s reporter to celebrated journalist, wife, and mother. Mandy Aftel’s seductive Fragrant (Riverhead) plumbs the power of ancient and exotic smells to ignite desire, discovery, and transcendence. Jonathan Darman’s Landslide (Random House) argues that the dueling mythologies of L.B.J. and Reagan in the 60s triggered the death of consensus politics. Matt Bai nails the Gary Hart affair as the moment politics went tabloid in All the Truth Is Out (Knopf). New Republic editor Franklin Foer commemorates 100 years of Insurrections of the Mind (Harper). Poet Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf) presents a radical portrait of our “post-racial”…

THINK PINK The third annual “Hamptons Paddle & Party for Pink” was a twofold affair that began with a competitive paddleboard race at Havens Beach, on Long Island, and ended with cocktails and dinner at the spectacular residence of Lisa and Richard Perry, in North Haven. The fund-raiser benefited the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. WILD BEAUTY The inaugural St. Tropez gala, at the Domaine Bertaud Belieu vineyard, and auction, benefiting the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, raised more than $25 million, which will be dedicated to protecting the sea, earth, and wildlife.…