Johnny Manziel’s Field of Nightmares; Erik Prince’s Reign of Terror; the Greatest Concert Film Ever

Your Labor Day Reading Plans, Delivered View in your browser | Update your preferences     A daily digest of things to discuss over drinks September 06, 2021 Dive into these classics from the Vanity Fair Archive over the long weekend.   Field of Nightmares By the summer of 2013, after one short season, 20-year-old Johnny Manziel was a sports idol and bona fide star—"Johnny Football," the showboating quarterback who led his Texas A&M team to upset victories, and the first freshman ever to win the Heisman Trophy. He went on to become one of the biggest flops in NFL history, dropped by the Cleveland Browns less than two years later. Talking to Manziel's close friends and family about the drugs, the rehab, the assault charge, and more, Bryan Burrough charts the dramatic, ongoing struggle to save the hard-partying player from himself. R E A D  M O R E »     Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy Erik Prince, outed as a participant in a CIA assassination program, gained notoriety as head of the military-contracting juggernaut Blackwater, a company dogged by a grand jury investigation, bribery accusations, and the voluntary-manslaughter trial of five ex-employees in early 2010. Lashing back at his critics, the wealthy former Navy SEAL took Adam Ciralsky inside his operation in the U.S. and Afghanistan, revealing the role he played in America's war on terror. R E A D  M O R E »     We Were the Band When it looked as if life on the road might soon destroy them, the Band decided to stop touring. But first, the group would play one final, unforgettable show, invite such legends as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Eric Clapton to join them—and ask Martin Scorsese to film it. In an adaptation from his memoir, guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson recalls the night of Thanksgiving 1976, and the chaotic, unpredictable, utterly glorious process that created one of the greatest concert films ever made: The Last Waltz. R E A D  M O R E »     Man of Her Dreams When award-winning NBC News producer Benita Alexander fell in love with the famous transplant surgeon Paolo Macchiarini―while filming A Leap of Faith, a documentary about him, with Meredith Vieira―she thought her biggest problem was a breach of journalistic ethics. But as she and the dashing Italian doctor planned their dream wedding, to be officiated by none other than the pope, Alexander found herself in a nightmare. Adam Ciralsky has her story. R E A D  M O R E »     Sisters of Swing For a century, the closed world of the jazz musician was a men's club. Abigail Jones spotlights the new guard of women virtuosi who are reshaping this most American of art forms. R E A D  M O R E »     Forward Motion If the British aristocracy wants a future, it can look to Emma, Viscountess Weymouth, as a model. R E A D  M O R E » Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. Sign Up Now     This e-mail was sent to you by VANITY FAIR. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.