Address_Copyright_Credit

Playbill .......... 3

Dear Playboy .......... 13

Playboy After Hours .......... 21

Music .......... 24

Adrift in teeny-bopper paradise, a Bay City Rollers concert; the latest from Country Joe, Dion, Earthquake and Asleep at the Wheel reviewed.

Movies .......... 34

The television industry takes its lumps in The Front and Network.

Books .......... 47

Truman Capote talks about Truman Capote; gay history is recorded.

Selected Shorts

Goodbye, Joey Ernst .......... Edgar Smith 56

The author, an ex--death row convict, recalls the last days of the second-to-last man to be executed in New Jersey.

To Tell the Truth .......... Thomas Plate 57

Presidential press secretaries get paid peanuts to lie for their bosses; so why do they do it?

The Playboy Advisor .......... 61

The Playboy Forum .......... 65

Playboy Interview: O. J. Simpson--candid conversation .......... 77

Simpson tells his side of the Buffalo brouhaha, what it was like growing up in the ghetto and how he feels about becoming a movie star.

Gay--fiction .......... Joyce Carol Oates 104

A sardonic yarn about the misadventures of an eccentric, homosexual professor.

Merry Christmas from the Colonel--memoirDick Gregory with James R. Mc Graw 108

In an excerpt from his forthcoming book Up from Nigger, the noted black comedian tells how, with the aid of Drew Pearson, Sammy Davis Jr. and others, he got tons of holiday turkeys to Mississippi poor folks.

Portfolio: Pompeo Posar--pictorial .......... 111

The second in this series in which Playboy photographers display some of their favorite shots.

Trial of the Warlock--fiction ..........Norman Mailer 121

A scarifying screenplay, based on J. K. Huysmans' notorious 19th Century novel Là-Bas, that makes The Exorcist look like Bambi.

Casanova--pictorial .......... 127

A sneak preview of some of the steamier scenes and foxier women in Fellini's new film featuring Donald Sutherland as the classical sexual athlete.

Are you Sexually Liberated Enough?--quizBarbara Nellis and James R. Petersen 134

So your ladyfriend wants to invite her ladyfriend over so the three of you can, uh, get to know one another better? Can you handle it?

Working Out--article .......... Bruce Jay Friedman 139

Putting in 6000 hours in a gym is no bed of roses--in more ways than one.

Playboy'S Christmas Cards--verse .......... Judith Wax 140

Our yuletide versifier concocts a batch of satirical missives.

Making Tracks--playboy's playmate of the month .......... 142

Afraid of flying, Karen Hafter took a train from New York to California. She was discovered waitressing on Sunset Boulevard. Does that sound familiar?

Playboy's Party Jokes--humor .......... 154

All the Presidents' Women--article .......... 156

J.F.K. wasn't the first one to play around. A lively catalog of the ladies who have been our Chief Executives' privileges in bed.

Playboy's Christmas Gift Guide--gifts .......... 159

Gear and gadgets for the man you just thought had everything.

What is Life?--fiction ..........Robert Sheckley 165

A humorous tale about what appears on the surface to be a mystical experience.

Honey--article .......... Honey Bruce with Dana Benenson 166

In this segment from her new autobiography, Honey Bruce talks about her sex life, her career as a stripper and her tumultuous marriage to Lenny.

Party Favorites!--attire/food and drinkDavid Platt and Emanuel Greenberg 170

How to prepare the compleat holiday bash: what to wear, what to serve as hors d'oeuvres and how to make some spirit-raising libations.

Sexual Congress--article ..........Peter Ross Range 177

Willing women are the most highly valued commodity in Washington. Our author hangs out with Liz Ray and investigates the well-established channels through which women are procured.

Standing up for Las Vegas--article ..........Mario Puzo 178

An inveterate gambler in his own right, the author of The Godfather reminisces about his adventures in America's gambling mecca.

Sex Stars of 1976--article ..........Arthur Knight 180

It's getting harder to make it into Hollywood's big league, but there are some hot prospects to go with the familiar names.

The Vargas Girl--pictorial ..........Alberto Vargas 192

The 1977 Playboy Music Poll--music .......... 194

It's your turn to play critic--vote for your favorites in jazz, pop/rock, country-and-western and rhythm-and-blues.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus--humor .......... 198

The sexual proclivities of one Kriss Kringle as seen by our crew of cartoonists.

When Ragtops were in Flower--article ..........Brock Yates 201

Come with us back to those glorious days of the Thirties and those lavish larger-than-life roadsters.

The Indiscreet Jewels--ribald classic ..........Denis Diderot 206

Little Annie Fanny--satire ..........Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder 209

Word Play--satire ..........Robert Carola 223

Playboy Potpourri .......... 268

Playboy on the Scene .......... 294

Cover Story

The neon Rabbit head behind March Playmate Ann Pennington (standing) and July Playmate Deborah Borkman is the longest continuous piece of neon ever constructed by Gabor Kadar, who specializes in oddball neon structures. It's so long, in fact, that Kadar passed out while blowing the air into the tubing during the cover shooting. He's fine now, thank you, if somewhat out of breath.