Swamp Fever By James Carville
Freedom fighter: Why I made my Hollywood debut in the screen biography of pornographer Larry Flynt.

The Awful Truth By Cintra Wilson
Tickling Elmo until he bleeds cash from both googly eyes.

Ill Humor By Ian Shoales
Abject adjectives. Some words have an unhealthy, symbiotic relationship to others. They must be freed.

The Surreal Gourmet By Bob Blumer
Be sinful, be spontaneous. New Year's resolutions for a happy, healthy 1997.

The Burnt-out Cook By Patric Kuh
The greatest meal of a master chef's career and New Year's in the French countryside.

Unzipped By Courtney Weaver
Rudiments for rubes. Do women get offended at rudimentary acts of chivalry? Should they? Thrash it out in Table Talk.

Verbivore By Richard Lederer
The true meanings of Christmas. A Yuletide quiz from our word maven. The first to submit the correct answers wins a $25 gift certificate to Borders Books & Music.

The Heart of the Country By Rob Spillman
When Mike McIntyre hit the road, penniless, and went looking for the real America, something amazing happened. He found it.

Working and not working By Jim Paul
Fiction: A blocked writer rediscovers his work ethic.

This sucks more than anything has ever sucked By Gary Kamiya
"Beavis and Butt-head Do America" proves that some small-town kids should never make it to the big time.

Mississippi hogwash By Charles Taylor
Rob Reiner's "Ghosts of Mississippi" is just plain, old-time Hollywood prejudice.

Pissing on Virtue By Charles Taylor
Milos Forman's "The People Vs. Larry Flynt" is a tapestry of all-American sleaze that could use a little more style.