Beauty Junkies: In Search of the Thinnest Thighs, Perkiest Breasts, Smoothest Faces, Whitest Teeth, and Skinniest, Most Perfect Toes in America

By Alex Kuczynski

Book Overview

A 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 into the local beauty pageant. Aging may be a natural fact of life, but for a growing number of Americans its hallmarks--wrinkles, love handles, jiggling flesh--are seen as obstacles to be conquered on the path to lasting, flawless beauty. In Beauty Junkies Alex Kuczynski, whose sly wit and fearless reporting in the Times has won her fans across the country, delivers a fresh and irresistible look at America's increasingly desperate pursuit of ultimate beauty by any means necessary. From a group of high-maintenance New York City women who devote themselves to preserving their looks twenty-four hours a day, to a "surgery safari" in South Africa complete with "after" photographs of magically rejuvenated patients posing with wild animals, to a podiatrist's office in Manhattan where a "foot face-lift" provides women with the right fit for their $700 Jimmy Choos, Kuczynski portrays the all-American quest for self-transformation in all its extremes. In New York, lawyers become Botox junkies in an effort to remain poker-faced. In Los Angeles, women of an uncertain age nip and tuck their most private areas, so that every inch of their bodies is as taut as their lifted faces. Across the country, young women graduating from high school receive gifts of breast implants - from their parents. As medicine and technology stretch the boundaries of biology, Kuczynski asks whether cosmetic surgery might even be part of human evolution, a kind of cosmetic survival of the fittest - or firmest? With incomparable portraits of obsessive patients and the equally obsessed doctors who cater to their dreams, Beauty Junkies examines the hype, the hope, and the questionable ethics surrounding the advent of each new miraculous technique. Lively and entertaining, thought-provoking and disturbing, Beauty Junkies is destined to be one of the most talked-about books of the season.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767914112
• ISBN13: 9780767914116
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Harmony
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent.

I'm not much interested in cosmetic surgery (which is not the same as plastic surgery, one of the things I learned from the book), but I am a HUGE fan of Alex Kuczynski's work so will read anything she writes. For instance, I don't like shopping, but I always read her NYT column, Critical Shopper, just for the fun of it. As I expected, I found this a fascinating book and whizzed through it in two days. Lots of great information. As the title indicates, this isn't a guide for people who are considering cosmetic surgery, but an analysis of the industry and the trends behind it. She throws in some of her own experiences, which are just as (or perhaps more) intriguing as the reportorial sections.

what a delight!

I knew very little about this subject when a coworker lent me Beauty Junkies. I had no idea about the lengths some people (and I don't say women because a surprising number of MEN partake!) go to in order to acheive a younger, prettier self. Kuczynski's research is so well formulated that even I, a stranger to the topic, was fully captivated by it. I finished the book in 2 nights! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in social patterns and psychology, as well as anyone interested in learning about new ideas.

What is beauty?

Kuczynski's tale of her own and others obsession with cosmetic surgery underlines the more important question of what is the role of beauty in our society. Who sets the 'beauty standard' and why are so many people,, especialy women, obsessed with the pursuit of such a subjective and ultimataly unrealizeable goal. Superbly researched and well written.

Changed my life

As a mother of three I was ready to get a tummy tuck and other things done... until I read this book. This clear view into the world of cosmetic surgery really made me think about it a new way. I learned things I am sure my doctor never would have told me. I am glad that this book was written.

Tells it like it is and names names

This book names names: from revealing the names of celebrities who've had work done, to revealing the names of doctors (and one particularly horrible New York cosmetic dentist) who rip off their patients and leave their patients scarred or worse while flouting the law, the truth, and their patients' safety. In other words, it has all of the pleasure of celebrity gossip, with none of the guilt. That's because this book is, at its core, a well-written, serious work of journalism that publicly shames some very bad doctors and a very bad dentist. It shows how the system is failing patients, and why it needs to be reformed. I LOVED this fun book. It is a true page-turner that left me laughing whenever it didn't make me gasp in disbelief. I highly recommend this book!