SALON Issue#9: www.salon1999.com

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FEATURES

How the West was fleeced By Cheryll Aimee Barron
By spoon-feeding a spiritually starved America with wisdom pellets from the East, Deepak Chopra has turned himself into a one-man publishing empire.

The man who saved the world By David Talbot
Hoist a glass of green beer to St. Patrick, the man author Thomas Cahill says is responsible for preserving Western civilization.

The biggest little music fest in Texas By Spike Gillespie

1. Our overwhelmed correspondent files her first dispatch from the teeming streets of Austin, where South by Southwest, the music industry's answer to Sundance, is in full swing.
2. In her second dispatch, our correspondent and her decent-sized chest make the scene at the music industry's answer to Sundance.
3. In her last dispatch, our correspondent breaks the sound barrier, gets blurry eyed, staggers towards the light at the end
of the tunnel, and ends up a better person for it.

Time's empty Whitewater exclusive By Gene Lyons
The truth about James Stewart's much-hyped book excerpt is that he didn't find anything. That didn't stop Time's editors from splashing it on their cover.

The Downsizing of Robert Reich By Mark Hertsgaard
Long before Pat Buchanan exploited the issue, Robert Reich spoke for the anxious middle class and against corporate irresponsibility. As the presidential campaign heats up, will Clinton finally unmuzzle his Secretary of Labor?

Oscar's Makeover By Joyce Millman
Ten modest proposals for juicing up the Academy Awards' annual snooze-fest.

The SALON Interview: David Foster Wallace By Laura Miller
The author of the mammoth, erudite, maddening novel "Infinite Jest" talks about life in America on the verge of the millennium, Kant, tennis and why his book is 1,079 pages long.

To Die for the People By Fred Branfman
A bold new G.O.P. proposal urges seniors to "Bite the Dust for the Budget."

Lord of the Fleas By Mary Elizabeth Williams
Flea circuses had gone the way of matchstick buildings, 5-cent beer and bearded ladies -- until a whip-wielding Colombian woman dressed in silver lamé brought them back. Pull up a chair (and your socks).

DEPARTMENTS

Hot Button
Middle East peace isn't dead; Break the Bosnia-Iran connection.

This Sporting Life: By Tim Green
Benching Bigotry. To the uninitiated, the NFL looks like a racial utopia. Those who have heard the ugly whispers in the locker room know better.

Word by Word: Anne Lamott's Online Diary
In which our heroine comes to understand that we are all precious in His sight -- even Pat Buchanan.

Lit Chat: Alice Walker
The author of "The Color Purple" and "Possessing the Secret of Joy" talks with Howard Zinn.

Verbivore. By Richard Lederer
Suppository questions. More political hoof-in-mouth disease from SALON's word wizard -- plus a call for a presidential palindrome. The winner receives a $25 gift certificate from Borders Books & Music.

The Listress. By Amy Wallace
Short People Got No Reason to Live: Tales of the vertically challenged. The first person to successfully match wits with The Listress wins a $25 gift certificate from Borders Books & Music.

Solution to last issue's five-minute mystery, "The Fragment of Serpentine Marble."

REVIEWS

Movies

Stream of unconsciousness By Gary Kamiya
Wong Kar-Wai's "Chungking Express" is a one-way ticket to Sillyville.

The Banality of Virtue By Laura Miller
The Coen brothers' "Fargo" tries for heart -- a quality not abundant in their earlier films -- but ends up as Bergman Lite.

Television

Dana Carvey bites the hand that feeds him By Joyce Millman
Will the comedian's corporation-tweaking, politician-bashing new show go over on the Disney-owned ABC?

Books

The Unsquarest Person Around By James Marcus
Albert Murray's defiance of separatism and celebration of the "Omni-American" inspired a generation of freethinking black intellectuals.

Music

A Voice of Her Own By James Marcus
Cassandra Wilson's subtle, offbeat "New Moon Daughter" is a worthy successor to "Blue Light 'Til Dawn," the quirky album that won Wilson an audience outside the jazz ghetto.

Kinder Cuts By Charles Taylor
In "Cut You," Penelope Houston, formerly of the ur-punk band The Avengers, delivers psychotic lyrics in a soft, pleasant tone.

Multimedia

Beat Degeneration By Scott Rosenberg
Two new CD-ROMs on the Beats offer archival delights -- but miss the movement's visionary heart.

SNEAK PEEKS

Short reviews of the most intriguing new books, including stories by Gina Berriault, Angela Carter and Julian Barnes, a feisty offering from former Clinton campaign manager James Carville and a major biography of William Blake.

COLUMNS

Ill Humor. Death's Little Bureaucrats
By Ian Shoales. Today's executions just don't have that festive, sadistic quality America wants and needs.

The Awful Truth. Childbirth: A Barbarian Absurdity That Must be Eliminated.
By Cintra Wilson. The author issues a stirring call for aspiring mothers to emulate sea turtles.

COMIX

Tom Tomorrow: This Modern World.
Carol Lay: Story Minute
Keith Knight: The K Chronicles
Ruben Bolling: Tom, The Dancing Bug

TABLE TALK

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Valentines and vituperation from our far-flung readers.

WELCOME CENTER

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Who is SALON? Profiles of the staff
How to use SALON
A brief history of salons
Contributors

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