Table of Contents

COVER: "Eat American!" is the new motto of trend-conscious food buffs 54

Discovering the delights of their own cuisine, Americans are coming home to dinner. Honors and high profits formerly reserved for French chefs and Continental dishes are now earned by young, homegrown chefs preparing updated versions of regional food with native ingredients. Eating out is in, and fast-food chains are offering lighter and more varied fare. See FOOD.

WORLD: Investigators probe the cause of history's worst single-plane accident 20

A shattered tail fin provides a clue to why Japan Air Lines Flight 123 crashed into a mountainside, taking 520 lives. President Botha's "manifesto" for South Africa disappoints opponents of apartheid. Iran's rigid theocracy harbors fanaticism and little hope for change. How a U.S. hostage managed to film his Shi'ite captors in southern Lebanon.

MUSIC: With a sold-out megatour, Springsteen owns rock's biggest dream 68

He is the hugest American star since Elvis Presley. Born in the U.S.A. has been a best-selling album for more than a year, and Bruce Springsteen is playing Super Bowl-size venues to accommodate old fans and new. Audiences sing the record's title track with anthemic fervor, but Springsteen remains an uncompromising populist and chronicler of the lost American promise.

10 Nation

In praise of lazy August. Moscow polishes its p.r. Another Union Carbide leak. A coal strike simmers. Watts 20 years later.

42 Economy & Business

A glut of offices, condos and hotels threatens builders and lenders. Coca-Cola is under pressure again. Grim reapings for farmers.

52 Education

College costs are rising faster than inflation, but there are still bargains to be found. The lost-test night mare comes true.

53 Religion

Pope John Paul's third tour of Africa high lights the complex is sues facing some of the world's fastest-growing churches.

65 Theater

Mesmeric imagery and rueful wars of the sexes highlight a brilliant, idiosyncratic Midsummer Night's Dream in Minneapolis.

66 Science

Halley's is still months away, but comet mania is in full swing, with T shirts, hair glitter, gym bags, cocktails and hype already here.

72 Books

Publishers are advancing millions of dollars to political figures for their memoirs. But will the gamble pay off in profits?

74 Essay

Roswell Gilbert murdered his wife of 51 years. She was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Was it mercy killing or simply killing?

4 Letters 8 American Scene 39 People 64 Cinema 67 Milestones

COVER: Photograph by Matthew Klein