THE PAPERBACK In the aftermath of the Matthew Shepard murder, the people of Laramie, Wyoming, as well as the world, were trying to understand the hate and fear that could bring about such a tragedy. In November 1998, award-winning playwright Moisés Kaufman and nine members of his theater company traveled to Laramie.

What they found were the voices of real people responding to tragedy in their midst. What they created, The Laramie Project, is a vivid mosaic that is "deeply moving…. [Kaufman] has a remarkable gift for giving a compelling theatrical flow to journalistic and historical material…. [The Laramie Project] is determined … to find the light in an event of harrowing darkness" (The New York Times). • Kaufman (author of Gross Indecency) and his Tectonic Theater Project conducted more than 200 interviews with the citizens of Laramie to create this portrait of a town struggling with a horrific murder. The savage killing of Shepard, a young gay intellectual, has become a national symbol of intolerance. But for the people of Laramie–both the friends of Matthew and those who hated him without knowing him–the tragedy was personal. The result is a complex and sympathetic portrait of a town that dispels the simplistic myths and stereotypes of the national media, and shows the people of Laramie struggling with the aftermath of an appalling event that made them question their belief that "it can’t happen here." • The paperback is available for $11 at your favorite bookstore.

THE HBO ORIGINAL PICTURE

The Laramie Project, directed by Moisés Kaufman, starring Laura Linney (Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City), Steve Buscemi (Divine Trash), and Christina Ricci (The Opposite of Sex, Pecker), and featuring Janeane Garofalo, Joshua Jackson, Camryn Manheim, and Peter Fonda, is scheduled to air in mid-March.

MATTHEW SHEPARD MOVIE

The Matthew Shepard Story, directed by Roger Spottiswoode (And the Band Played On), and starring Stockard Channing (The Truth About Jane and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar) and Sam Waterston (Serial Mom), is scheduled to air in the spring on NBC. One of the executive producers is Goldie Hawn.