Features

Snakes in the Garden

It seemed a good match: on one side, old-fashioned oligarchs looking to modernize Wal-Mart’s image; on the other, the big-city types who could make a fortune doing it. By the time it was over, a Madison Avenue heavy had been summoned to Arkansas to answer questions about his splashy lifestyle, and nobody was happy except the lawyers.

American Jeremiad

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has become our nation’s most animated secular prophet of apocalypse.

Intelligencer

Miss USA Still Likes the Nightlife

At least according to Miss Universe.

The Freewheelin’ Hayden

He wanted to act like Dylan.

Movie Moratorium in Magic Kingdom

Studio is sleeping beauty.

Kerry Kid Goes Hollywood

Waspy pic not about her dad.

Indie Publishers Act All Indie

But McSweeney’s digs deal.

It Happened Last Week

The opening of several exhibitions seeking to rehab the legacy of the city’s master builder, Robert Moses, kicked off a parade of heavy construction equipment last week.

Happy Family

Hillary Clinton throws Chuck Schumer a book party. Thirty minutes later, all the guests were still hungry for attention.

The Partner Tax

What’s $60,000 when you’re making millions? Enough to resent.

Starchitectonics

As the Museum of Modern Art’s new chief curator of architecture and design, Barry Bergdoll, who started his job last month, has suddenly become one of the city’s most influential tastemakers.

Ommm vs. Yummm

Foie gras battle sizzles on; politicos and celebs face off.

Strategist

Everything Guide to Shoes

The shoemaniac’s companion: Which ones to buy, how to find the right size, how to trip gracefully while you get used to them, and more.

Best Bets

Chocolate-covered Cheerios and more endearingly unconventional Valentine’s gift ideas.

Ask a Shop Clerk

Aziz Osmani of Kalustyan’s.

Shop News

Store openings this week.

Look Book

The bewhiskered subject of a beard-design competition.

The Restaurant Review

Jeffrey Chodorow spent so much time collecting gaudily absurd décor for Kobe Club that he forgot about the food.

In Season

A cara cara oranges with roasted beets�hot pepper�and�bitetto olive salsa recipe from a Franny's chef.

Insatiable Critic: Agata & Valentina Ristorante

Good Italian soul food, not inexpensive but almost reasonable.

Restaurant Openings

New this week: Olympic Pita, Blue Ribbon Bar, and Westville East.

They Feel Good About Their Necks

An unfamiliar cut is showing up on local menus, prompting the question: Is neck the new cheek?

Real Estate

How to house-hunt with your cell phone.

The Culture Pages

The Endless Fifteen Minutes

Why Andy Warhol won’t leave our culture alone.

The Movie Review

Two excellent portrayals�one fictional, one not�of a miserable era in East Germany.

Production Notes: Toilet Cam

An indie film’s got to have a gimmick, and American Standard’s is this: All scenes of the still-looking-for-a-distributor romantic comedy were shot in New York bathrooms.

Auctions

A bull market in highbrow photography.

The TV Review

The producers of Lost try to hide the fact that the show is a creepy thriller at heart.

Dracula

While it's unclear whether anyone wants another Dracula, this one’s sturdy enough.

Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life

An account of Strayhorn’s troubles as a gay man in the homophobic jazz world of the forties and fifties, and a case history of Oedipal struggle.

Playing the Slots: Monday Night

Study this tough-love guide to making the hard but necessary choices in your weekly TV regimen.

The Theater Review

Great acting battles shoddy writing in the Frank Lloyd Wright play.

An Afternoon in Chelsea

A guided tour of the art district's best galleries right now.

The Infidel Speaks

The memoir-worthy life of Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

The Approval Matrix

Our deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on our taste hierarchies.

The Week

Head of the Class

The New School for Drama’s �Random Acts!� showcase brings out three first-rate playwrights’ short stuff.

On the Rise

An architecture center builds an audience.

Forever Young

Our picks from a festival of new work by members of Youngblood, a company of playwrights under 30.

Bright Young Things

Two galleries transformed by illumination, a third by alliteration.

Columns

The Imperial City

From the lame-duck-in-chief all the way on down to those outdated CDs, our society is clogged with anachronisms. Let’s get on with it!

The Bottom Line

Ten foreign stocks to shelter your money from the Bush Effect.

Departments

Letters to the Editor