Playboy December 2009, Joanna Krupa

COVER STORY You've known about Joanna Krupa for a few years, but many didn't meet her until Dancing With the Stars. After receiving mail from her devotees (old and new), and with her dancing nude through our minds all season, we brought her back. Photographer Rankin captured Joanna on center stage; our Rabbit is also in the spotlight. FEATURES 44 THE ORIGINAL OF LAURA It has been called the holy grail of higher lit. The last written words by VLADIMIR NABOKOV sat in a Swiss vault for 32 years while his son wavered between burning the work and publishing it. Here, before the novel hits bookstores, we offer an exclusive excerpt. 58 BROTHERS IN ARMS GORE VIDAL remembers his hero, his stepbrother. 62 CHELSEA HANDLER'S GUIDE TO THE HOLIDAYS Our favorite comic on hosting a good yule time. 66 DOPE T.J. ENGLISH discovers that one DEA agent's smoke and mirrors put scores of innocent people in jail. 71 PLAYBOY'S 2009 MUSIC POLL Cast a vote for your favorite music. 82 TIP-OFF '10 DAVID KAPLAN and ROCKY RAKOVIC provide full-court coverage of the NCAA basketball season. 98 NO RESERVATIONS The tasty digs of Chicago restaurateur Jerry Klelner. A Playboy Pad by STEVE GARBARINO. 102 DUST IN THE WIND If you love a book, let it go, says PAULO COELHO, whose The Alchemist has sold 65 million copies. 110 THE TRIUMPH OF THE CONSERVATIVE UNDERGROUND THOMAS FRANK notes that the ultra-right wing is back—and its leader is Glenn Beck. 118 THE BOOK OF GENESIS An illustrated cartoon from the Bible of R. CRUMB. 124 THE GREAT SOUTH FLORIDA PYTHON SCARE Writer PAT JORDAN tracks snakes on a glade. 130 PLAYBOY GIFT GUIDE Cool toys for older boys by SCOTT ALEXANDER. INTERVIEW 39 JAMES CAMERON The big-money director of Avatar and Titanic raps with STEPHEN REBELLO. 20Q 128 QUINTON "RAMPAGE" JACKSON JASON BUHRMESTER goes 20 scary rounds with the volatile MMA champ and actor. PICTORIALS 50 LOLITA ROGER EBERT tells us about the film they said could never be made. And we recast SASHA GREY as you know who. 76 SEX IN CINEMA Jennifer's (Megan Fox's) Body and other hot scenes from the big screen. 86 CRYSTAL HARRIS Hef's playmate is the Centerfold. 104 CHEEKY Select shots by the randy RANKIN. 123 HOW TO UNDRESS FOR YOUR MAN Last-minute gift idea, ladies: Take off your packaging—slowly. 134 JOANNA The showstopping Miss KRUPA gives you a private dance. NEWS AND NOTES 11 WORLD OF PLAYBOY Hef and 11 Playmates shoot Guitar Hero 5 commercials with superdirector Brett Ratner; for the premiere of Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel, the Man and his girlfriends travel to the Toronto International Film Festival; the good times keep rolling during the Mansion's 1970s roller-skating party. 12 DREAM A LITTLE DREAM Midsummer Night's Dream is the hottest pajama party on the planet. See stars like Shannon Elizabeth, Shaquille O'Neal and our girls in their sleepwear. 166 PLAYMATE NEWS DeDe Lind gets flown to the moon and back; Pam Anderson debuts her fragrances; Jennifer Walcott and her fiancé on El's THS: Football Wives. DEPARTMENTS 3 PLAYBILL 13 DEAR PLAYBOY 17 AFTER HOURS 20 REVIEWS 31 MANTRACK 35 PLAYBOY ADVISOR 96 PARTY JOKES 174 GRAPEVINE THE PLAYBOY FORUM 169 THE CONFIDENCE MAN After the recession we won't get fooled again, right? Don't be too sure, explains JACKSON LEARS. We have blindly been giving away our money to financial hucksters long before and after 1929. It's the sorry downside of the American dream.