Q&A: Wallace Shawn, the Newest 'Gossip Girl' Star | Newsweek Scope

Coming-Of-Age Stories
Barbara Kantrowitz 1/28/2009 12:00:00 AM
"You are a woman now." Many of us heard those words when we got our first period, a landmark event in a woman's life. It is a day we all remember, sometimes with embarrassment, but it's a subject most women have rarely been able to read about. In the recently released "My Little Red Book," 18-year-old Rachel Kauder Nalebuff broke the unspoken taboo by collecting dozens of essays on the topic from a diverse group of women, both famous and not. Erica Jong writes about the "Fear of Fourteen" and Cecily Von Ziegesar, author of the "Gossip Girl" series, describes an unfortunate sex-ed class on the subject. The collection is just one of a host of new books on the subject; preteens now have dozens of detailed guides to the physical and psychological changes that precede and accompany a girl's first menstrual period. But the mysteries of when and why girls begin puberty have gotten a lot of attention from the scientific community recently, too—research has expanded from the biology of menstruation to include some of the complex sociological and emotional factors involved in when and why girls begin maturing.
TOP SHELF
Keeping Up Appearances
Sameer Reddy 1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM
Frequently she's able to one-up them; in one episode she dons one of her dresses and crashes a society gala, ending up in the New York Post's Page Six gossip column.
ENTERTAINMENT
Narcissus Has Left the Pool
Cathleen McGuigan 11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
In 1954, Life Magazine ran a photograph of a trio of Hollywood heartthrobs. Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis and Robert Wagner posed hanging off a ladder, looking squeaky-clean in their penny loafers and Pepsodent smiles. The photo, like an ancient Greek potsherd depicting young Olympians, is a fragmentary glimpse into a bygone era: the last days of the studio system, when publicists held a firm grip on actors' images. That era was almost bygone when the picture was snapped: Marlon Brando had already appeared in "The Wild One," and James Dean's "Rebel Without a Cause" was only a year away. Movie heroes were changing, and so were the carefully crafted connections between the stars and their fans. But in the early '50s, all those young Tabs, Troys and Rorys were still investments for the studios—Hollywood tadpoles who'd started at $75 a week and whose worth was measured in the volume of their fan mail. Stars, and the studios, went to considerable lengths to protect their value. Rock Hudson, on the highest rung of that ladder, would soon marry his agent's secretary to quash the rumors that he was gay.
TELEVISION
Why Men Love 'Gossip Girl'
Joshua Alston 9/5/2008 12:00:00 AM
My name is Joshua, and I love "Gossip Girl." My addiction to the CW's drama about social-climbing Manhattan teens began innocently enough, a mere flirtation that grew into a full-blown crisis. I reviewed the pilot last fall and was ambivalent about it. I thought it was enjoyable for what it was but hardly something for me to get excited about.
STYLE
New Shades That Break The Pattern
Elisa Mala 7/26/2008 12:00:00 AM
While on the lam in "North by Northwest," Cary Grant disguises himself with black sunglasses. Immediately someone asks, "What's wrong with your eyes?" Attempts at traveling incognito might fail just as badly with this season's bold, patterned sunglasses. Once limited primarily to tortoiseshell, prints now come in all shapes and stripes.
EXECUTIVE LIFE
A Rail Car Of One’s Own

Reminiscent of an era of cigar smoke and three-piece suits, vintage railroad cars are being restored with art deco interiors, private bathrooms and five-star chefs. For about $7,000 a day, these cars can be hitched to passenger or freight trains for private charter in the United States, Mexico and Canada (aaprco.com).