Playboy January 1999

COVER STORY Forty-Five years ago, Hugh Hefner took a bold gamble and started a magazine with a singular image of Marilyn Monroe. To celebrate that union, we recruited artist Rob Silvers to create a new cover using five decades of past PLAYBOY covers. Silvers, who designed the computer program that performs this magic, used unaltered PLAYBOY covers to generate the image. Look closely and you can identify nearly every month from our 45 years. At a distance, Marilyn appears, and reminds us how it all began. 9 PLAYBILL 19 THE WORLD OF PLAYBOY 21 DEAR PLAYBOY 27 PLAYBOY AFTER HOURS 30 MUSIC 34 WIRED 36 MOVIES by Leonard Maltin 40 VIDEO 42 BOOKS 44 FITNESS by John Winters 46 MEN by Asa Baber 48 SEX by Lori Weiss 49 MONEY MATTERS by Christopher Byron 51 MANTRACK 55 THE PLAYBOY ADVISOR 57 THE PLAYBOY FORUM 69 PLAYBOY INTERVIEW: MICHAEL CRICHTON—candid conversation No writer so dominates both Hollywood and the best-seller lists. The elusive hitmaker lets us in on his secrets. 82 LAST WORDS FOR A CENTURY—article KURT VONNEGUT America's favorite visionary asks, "Where the Fuh-kar-wee?" and looks to Kilgore Trout for the answer. 86 THIERRY MUGLER'S SEX COUTURE—pictorial Fasnion's bad boy shows exactly what he means by erotic. 94 AN AFFAIR—fiction BRUCE JAY FRIEDMAN They couldn't get enough of each other—and then it ended. 97 ELEVENTH-HOUR SANTA—gifts 100 CHICKEN LITTLE GOES GLOBAL—article WILLIAM GREIDER Is the world economy about to collapse? A veteran skeptic and analyst gets to the bottom of it all. 105 SEX STARS OF THE CENTURY—pictorial D. KEITH MANO From Marilyn to Ursula to Sharon, the women who have made the past 100 years sizzle. 130 NET FORCE—fiction TOM CLANCY The Selkie—a beautiful, ruthless killer—stalks her prey inside the Pentagon. 132 TRIAL RUN FOR NEW YEAR'S 2000—article JOHN MARIANI, LARRY OLMSTED and CHRIS SANTILLI Make this year a practice session for the Big One with our can't-fail guide. 134 KOSHER SEX—article RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH Need some sizzle in your sex life? The rabbi is in. 138 45TH ANNIVERSARY PLAYMATE—playboy's playmate of the month, Jaime Bergman 150 PARTY JOKES—humor 152 MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DOOM—fiction RAYMOND BENSON When Hef meets 007, Playboy Mansion West's annual pajama party turns to murder and mayhem. 154 SHINE ON—fashion HOLLIS WAYNE Glitzy suits make the perfect statement for the millennial flash. 161 BABES AND THE BELTWAY—humor BILL MAHER The host of Politically Incorrect explains why women can't hack it when it comes to talking about current affairs. 162 CAN YOU CHAT UP A SUPERMODEL?—quiz CHRISTOPHER NAPOLITANO Too shy to go for the gold? Take our test and discover skills you never knew you had. 164 THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN—cars KEN GROSS Landmark sports cars from PLAYBOY'S first 45 years. 170 HONEYMOON—fiction ROBERT STONE A couple's holiday in the tropics is drenched with sex and death. 174 20 QUESTIONS: KIRSTIE ALLEY Prime time's brashest lass on the need for drama, the importance of wigs and how Kelsey Grammer grossed her out. 176 ONE MORE REALITY TO GO—article DEEPAK CHOPRA Has science figured out all that's worth knowing? The inspirational writer argues the next exciting field of inquiry lies within us. 178 THE YEAR IN SEX—pictorial 186 DADDY'S FIRST VIAGRA—fiction STEVE MARTIN A man, a woman, a little blue pill. Dream date? Not exactly. 188 THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS—humor ROBERT S. WIEDER 191 PLAYBOY'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW—sports GARY COLE As schools gear up for March madness, our sports maven analyzes the best teams and players. 196 EARTH TO UNIVERSE: DO YOU READ?—article MICHAEL D. LEMONICK Scientists searching for life in outer space have found planets, water and carbon. But where are the aliens? 198 PLAYBOY'S PLAYMATE REVIEW—pictorial 235 WHERE & HOW TO BUY 251 PLAYMATE NEWS 255 PLAYBOY ON THE SCENE