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.