After reading this book, I came away with the impression that Alex Kuczynski may well be absolutely insufferable to be around. She writes this book from the lofty balcony of judgment about the women (and they are mostly women) who have vaginal rejuvenation surgery, yet then admits to having an amazing number of procedures herself (though not that particular one). And what type of world does she live in? After her surgery to correct her "puffy" upper eyelids, her cleaning lady likes the results so much that she has the same surgery. Her CLEANING LADY. What the hell? Where is it that cleaning people can afford expensive elective surgery when most people I know who have cleaned houses can't even afford health insurance for themselves for, you know, REAL illnesses?

So, I did enjoy my own seat from my moral high ground - when she asks, "[is:] it wrong to pay my mortgage late so I can get some Botox?", I am shouting to myself, "How can you even ask such a question?". But. I dog-eared two pages in the book. One was the above quote, but one was the page when Kuczynski gives the list of things that it is important to look for in a plastic surgeon. You know, just in case. Damn, that fall from the moral high ground is a looooong one.

At the end of the book, Kuczynski has sworn off additional procedures. However, it's worth noting that she wrote this book when in her mid-30s, and I'm guessing it's quite surprising that she had as many procedures as she did before age 40. I'm guessing that when the seemingly-shallow Kuczynski sees her face at 45, she'll be right back in her doctor's office. But will she see me there?

Some good stuff but the author turns out to be as superficial as her subjects which is kind of disappointing, I would have preferred more of an attitude but her snideness is tempered by her buying into the whole thing.

Interesting and very entertaining. Another social science book - hence I actually finished it.

Women who get foot facelifts to be able to wear their $500 Jimmy Choo shoes. Men who lie to several doctors in order to make sure they get Botox shots every eight weeks. Young women modelling themselves on porn stars. People willingly having themselves injected with corpse flesh and collagen derived from the stem cells of an infant’s foreskin to get Angelina Jolie-like lips. Makeover subjects who all end up looking the same, conforming to the same dull beauty ideal. Bel Air wives who spend all day looking after their own bodies. Women who pose topless at websites in order to earn money for breast implants. Dentists who insist that they, too, are entitled to perform plastic surgery so as to be able to cash in on the beauty fad. Quacks selling bootleg ‘Botox’ that ends up ruining several people’s lives. These are just a few of the people described in Beauty Junkies, a look at America’s $15 billion cosmetic surgery industry by New York Times journalist Alex Kuczynski, herself a former beauty junkie who needed a pretty harsh wake-up call to realise that maybe, maybe, she and several million Americans were taking their obsession with looking good a bit too far.

Kuczynski quotes some staggering figures to prove that America is well and truly obsessed with cosmetic surgery. She cites famous and less famous surgeons, talks to extreme beauty junkies as well as ‘regular’ people undergoing surgery, describes mind-boggling new beautification techniques and demonstrates quite ably that in today’s America, looks are everything, to the point where girls do not want to be good – just look good. Needless to say, much of the book focuses on extremes, but even so, one gets the feeling that these extremes might one day become normal – that they’re harbingers of what is to come for America as well as the rest of the world. It’s a scary thought.

What I enjoyed most about the book was the chapter in which Kuczynski traces the historical origins of plastic surgery, in an age when it had nothing to do with getting bigger boobs, but everything with being made somewhat socially acceptable. Kuczynski describes sixteenth-century nose jobs which were awfully uncomfortable to the patients and frequently resulted in noses falling off in cold weather, disastrous late-nineteenth-century attempts to fill facial lines, and early-twentieth-century techniques to restore the faces of WWI soldiers who had had their jaws blown off in combat. It’s fascinating stuff and I wish she had devoted a bit more attention to it. Instead, however, she very quickly takes us to the present day, describing all manner of obsessions, excesses and nasty experiences (including a few of her own) to convince us that things have got a little out of hand. Well, we knew that, didn’t we?

My main problem with Beauty Junkies is that it is incoherent and unfocused. Kuczynski has some interesting, well-researched stories to tell, and she undeniably has an easy-to-read writing style, but the way the stories are linked together is not particularly smooth. It is clear the book started out as a collection of newspaper articles rather than as a scholarly endeavour, making it rather less successful as an in-depth analysis of a cultural phenomenon. Furthermore, it seems Kuczynski cannot make up her mind as to whether the book is to be about herself or not. She brings up her own experiences far too many times for Beauty Junkies to be an objective read, but too few times to make it a proper memoir. Instead it’s a rather curious mix of research, gossip and ego-babble – definitely interesting, but not as revealing and effective as it could and should have been.

An Eye Opener!

I learned that I never want to get breast implants or use botox. The maintenance and cost are not worth it. I would not rule out a mini-face lift down the road, but only from a very experienced and highly recommended plastic surgeon in a U.S. hospital setting.

A haunting and existential exploration of the beauty industry and the lengths to which the ultra-wealthy take to combat aging. Ultimately I am skeptical of Kuczynski's hypothesis that cosmetic surgery will reach economies of scale and ultimately become 'affordable' to the everyday person, but time will tell!

Bangs not Botox. I followed this still to this day lol

Mostly fascinating, but in some parts (especially the last chapter), too self-absorbed in preaching the horrors of plastic surgery.

Super readable and very informative. be prepared for some next level criticism of the appearances of basically every person mentioned in the book. like she just cannot help herself from saying the meanest possible thing about every single person mentioned, it’s very unnerving and pretty depressing

there are parts that speak a little too easily from a pov that sees beauty/ugliness as objective; and it is focused on white/cishet beauty; but fascinating & cool info overall, esp. "beauty surgery safaris" & the author's personal experience with cosmetic surgery

Very interesting book. For me, the most interesting parts were the historical precursers to modern-day cosmetic surgery. I know there will always be people trying to find the proverbial fountain of youth, but breast augmentation for a high school graduation gift? Plastic surgery "safaris" to South Africa, where the price is right? What?