Product DescriptionA star writer for the New York Times Styles section captures the follies, frauds, and fanaticism that fuel the American pursuit of youth and beauty in a wickedly revealing excursion into the burgeoning business of cosmetic enhancement. Americans are aging faster and getting fatter than any other population on the planet. At the same time, our popular notions of perfect beauty have become so strict it seems even Barbie wouldn’t have a chance of making it int. . . More >>
Beauty Junkies: Inside Our $15 Billion Obsession With Cosmetic Surgery
TOO BORING TO GO ANY FURTHER THAN THE FIRST SEVERAL CHAPTERS. I THUMBED THROUGH THE REST AND SAW IT WAS ALL THE SAME. NOT REALLY A PERSONAL CONFESSIONAL-SHE MENTIONS HER PROCEDURES VERY BRIEFLY. IT INSTEAD READS LIKE TEXTBOOK MEDICAL HISTORY OF THE ORIGINS OF PLASTIC SURGERY. IF YOUR ANYONE WHO HAS HAD, OR IS PLANNING TO HAVE ANY SURGERY OR INJECTIONS, SKIP THIS BOOK-UNLESS YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT SOLDIERS WHO WERE DISFIGURED AND MAMED DURING WAR SO PLASTIC SURGERY WAS BORN. ALONG THOSE SAME LINES, I DID NOT WANT TO READ IN EXCRUTIATING DETAIL ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE “POISON” BOTOX AND HOW IT WAS ORIGINALLY FOUND AND DEVELOPED FROM ROTTEN SAUSAGES. THE STORIES ABOUT PEOPLE SHE ACTUALLY KNEW ARE SHORT AND SO COMPLETELY OFF THE WALL FROM WHAT ANY NORMAL WOMAN WOULD EVER WANT TO DO ARE USELESS TO READ ABOUT AS WELL. UNLESS YOU ARE RESEARCHING FOR REFRENCE THE STATISTICS AND ORIGIN OF PLASTIC SURGERY-SKIP THIS BOOK!
Rating: 2 / 5
it is an overall goodbook,but one thing attracts the attention is that the author is very self centered. one cannot deny the good sides of plastic surgery or its substitutes,like botox or others in the same field.
being born not a long time ago,the author does not know how lucky all women are today to have handy so many ways to stay beautiful and young. eversince humankind exists,human beings have been looking for the magical recipes for staying young. the author was born when all these fights were elements of the past. exagerating?maybe but why be so intolerant if people feel like doing it???? intolerance is what drives to such extremes in working on yourself but it is fashionable now to be
”natural”. . . . . . . . let us wait until she really NEEDS it badly. would she prefer then to be a junky or an old rejected hag?????
Rating: 3 / 5
My wife was (un)fortunate enough to be presented with a copy of this book
several days before it came out. With nothing else to read I thought, “Okay,
I have no interest in plastic surgery or Botox, I have no interest in
cosmetics, I’m a guy. . . maybe this will be fun. ” Uh, it wasn’t. The real
reason I read this book is because I am an avid reader of the author’s obscenely
ridiculous shopping column in the Times. It takes a gutsy, no-nonsense reporter/reviewer
of stores (yes, this is what the author DOES for a living!) to admit she’s
never owned a pair of jeans before. Anyway, back to this book. In a word,
it’s drivel. Even though the author bombards you with facts about surgery and
the beauty business, it’s really all about her. I did finish it, but I
also finished watching the movie “Show Girls. ” As much as it tries — and oh,
she tries — to be serious, it’s like diving into the shallow end of a pool. One
day a compelling book about this fascinating subject will be written. . .
this ain’t it.
Rating: 1 / 5
I must admit that I did not know what to expect when I purchased this book, but I was pleasantly surprized. I found it to be well organized, well researched, filled with interesting information and most of all HONEST.
I felt that the author provided a very balanced report on the state of plastic surgery in our time and the fact that she included her own experiences with some of the procedures / equipment, shows that there was no hidden agenda or portrayal of a perspective that panders to the bias of those either strongly for or strongly against plastic surgery.
She gives the facts just as she sees them. Excellent reporter.
Rating: 5 / 5
What a fantastic book. Interesting, thought-provoking, enjoyable and so well-written. A true insider’s look — a must read!
Rating: 5 / 5