Playboy January 1982

COVER STORY The delicacy offered as this month's cover comes not from the nearby patisserie but from the camera of Christian Moser and the office of our French edition in Paris. We think it's the best Franco-American product since SpaghettiOs. The lady is Natalie Levy Bencheton, a mademoiselle whose modeling career lasted only six months. Now she lives with her husband in Paris and throws an occasional soiree. We're glad Moser got our cover shot before Natalie got up and slipped away. 5 PLAYBILL 13 THE WORLD OF PLAYBOY 15 DEAR PLAYBOY 21 PLAYBOY AFTER HOURS Are fraternities for you? Checking in with Kathleen (Body Heat) Turner. 30 MUSIC Heavy Metal roundup; "Holiday Record Rack." 34 BOOKS The compleat Elvis; "Holiday Book Bag." 40 BOOK ESSAY No-frills books speak volumes. 42 MOVIES In the stage-to-screen parade: one hit, one near miss. 49 COMING ATTRACTIONS Sequelmania strikes again: Watch for more of The Sting, Star Trek, Airplane! and Grease. 53 THE PLAYBOY ADVISOR 57 DEAR PLAYMATES 59 THE PLAYBOY FORUM 69 PLAYBOY INTERVIEW: GEORGE CARLIN—candid conversation His wry radicalism has taken him from class clown to class act, but he's still looking for ways to shake things up. The speaker of The Seven Words speaks with us about cocaine, cardiac arrest, courts-martial, the cosmos, comedians' groupies and comedy to come. 102 KILLING—fiction JOHN UPDIKE Anne's father is dying, and so is whatever she once shared with her husband. A thanatotic tale of crisis and estrangement in our modern shadowland. 106 THE UNRETURNING ARMY—article PHILIP CAPUTO The author of A Rumor of War searches the psyches of Vietnam veterans and finds them still under fire. Rumor has it that the Vietnam vet is an ambulatory scar. The rumors are true. 110 THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL—pictorial What's brasher than M*A*S*H, bigger than the Hulk, sexier than Charlie's Angels and harder to follow than the Road Runner? A soap opera, of course—and the loveliest soap stars of all reveal a lot more than plot lines in their dazzling debut in our pages. 120 BETWEEN ROCK AND A SOFT PLACE—article STEPHEN KING America's reigning creep-show barker is horrified at the beating up of the beat. Can rock take a stand and carry the day, or is the dead zone dead ahead? Also: a visit with an embattled hard-rock disc jock trying to preserve a place for his music. 123 THE ELEVENTH-HOUR SANTA—gifts Salvation for the poor soul who has let those shopping days dwindle. 126 BLUE CADILLAC—fiction MICHAEL MALONE Braxton Cox is headed home to Mom's for Thanksgiving dinner, when blonde, beautiful Marie sidetracks him. Mourning the King together, they go for a ride in her blue "Elvis" Cadillac, and Braxton gets all shook up. 128 TOGETHER AGAIN: BUBBLY & BLACK TIE—drink EMANUEL GREENBERG Champagne's the perfect potable at tuxedo functions for the holidays. 131 AT HOME WITH THE HAIGS—humor HENRY BEARD, CHRISTOPHER CERF and TONY GEISS A comic-strip sortie into the flinty heart of the man who would be king. 134 THE GENTLEMAN PREFERS BLONDES—pictorial John Derek's blonde ambitions are fulfilled with a passion. 143 REAGAN OF THE LOST ART—satire JULES FEIFFER One of our foremost social commentators represents the supply side of some cuts that come at our Chief Executive's expense. 144 CARS '82: ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO!—modern living GARY WITZENBURG The means, methods and opportunities of finding the best automotives. 148 LORDS OF THE RINGS—sports RICHARD PRICE Kurt Thomas and Bart Conner, that matched set of tumblers, personify only the tip of the iceberg in the new gymnastics generation—and a very cold iceberg it is. 150 SOUTHERN STAR—playboy's playmate of the month Kimberly McArthur didn't make the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders because she didn't kick high enough. While Kim doesn't do Dallas, you'll agree that she provides plenty of kicks as January's gatefold girl. 162 PLAYBOY'S PARTY JOKES—humor 165 TAILORED FOR '82—attire DAVID PLATT Style in haberdashery requires a dash of designer flashery—and a lively imagination. 172 LIVE LIKE A KING—travel STEPHEN BIRNBAUM Louis XVI lost his head over accommodations like these. 174 THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS—humor TOM KOCH 1981 gave us a royal wedding and a lot of royal pains, from Reagan to Begin to Byrne. The high points were hard to discern. 176 20 QUESTIONS: JOHN MATUSZAK The news from The Tooz is that some football heroes really are larger than life. 180 IN PRAISE OF OLDER WOMEN—fiction THOMAS M. DISCH Brief breakfast banter between Jocasta and her husband Oedipus, who is certainly a complex character. A classic little dialog. 183 PLAYBOY'S PLAYMATE REVIEW—pictorial A dreamer's dozen—last year's delightful duodecimal. 197 THE TALE OF A SOFA—ribald classic CREBILLON FILS 198 PLAYBOY'S ANNUAL AWARDS Harder to pick than a stringless guitar—PLAYBOY'S best writers, artists, photographers and cartoonists of 1981; here they are. 202 MAN AND WOMAN: Part I of a Series JO DURDEN-SMITH and DIANE DE SIMONE From the frontiers of sex and science, this seven-part PLAYBOY series will explore the latest thinking on what makes man man and woman woman. In this introductory installment, there's also a stimulating PLAYBOY questionnaire that will help us (and you) determine your place in the sexual scheme. 216 PLAYBOY FUNNIES—humor 276 PLAYBOY POTPOURRI 303 LITTLE ANNIE FANNY—satire HARVEY KURTZMAN and WILL ELDER 307 PLAYBOY ON THE SCENE Wine storage; loungewear; monograms; Sex News; Grapevine.