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