Would the whole Lewinsky affair make a good Harlequin romance?
"Absolutely not," says Harlequin novelist Kathryn Shay, 49. "It's the opposite of everything a romance novel is. At the end of every romance, you'll see the hero and heroine become better people. The people who come together are almost always monogamous, and the relationship is always healthy. Certainly it can be explicit in romance novels, but it isn't tawdry."
On a scale of one to five broken hearts, how would you rate the Lewinsky-Clinton affair?
"Definitely a five," says country singer Pam Tillis, because "everybody heard [the tapes]. It would be like everybody in high school knowing your business."
What should be the theme song of the Lewinsky-Tripp tapes?
"I'd do a western-swing version of 'Devil with a Blue Dress On,' " says Tillis.
Is there something uniquely female about Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp's conversations?
"Women's friendships are made of talk," says Deborah Tannen, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and author of the book You Just Don't Understand, which expounds differences in the way women and men communicate. "Talk is the glue that holds the relationship together—particularly telling secrets and talking about troubles. I think everybody is repelled by the image of Tripp betraying a woman who clearly trusted her. Women in particular are horrified by it because they have these kinds of conversations with their friends—conversations where you tell your secrets and tell what's troubling you."
Can men really understand this stuff?
"I think most men find it extremely bizarre, the image of adult women spending this much time going over and over in this detail the nuances of who said what, and what they felt," says Tannen. "Men's friendships aren't defined by telling secrets."
Who had the power in the Clinton-Lewinsky relationship?
"Part of control is who first set their eyes on the other person, and that was clearly Monica," says sex therapist Warren Farrell, author of The Myth of Male Power. "She had her eyes set on Bill Clinton before he knew Monica existed. Once there was contact, the power was clearly mutual, but she had in many respects more control, because she had the ability to ruin his life."
Who would be a good choice to play Lewinsky and Tripp in the movie?
Casting director Mary Jo Slater (mother of Christian Slater): Harvey Fierstein as Linda Tripp, or Paul Stanley from Kiss. As Monica: Rosie O'Donnell or Christina Ricci.
David Permut, producer of Face/Off: Neve Campbell or Delta Burke as Lewinsky. As for Tripp, "Well, if Howard Stern's not available, you've got to get Dee Snider from Twisted Sister. It's perfect for him."
VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE
Heartbreak & Hope
After Jaycee Dugard's rescue, a look at the cases of six young people who went missing in 2009
