Beautiful Stranger: A Memoir of an Obsession with Perfection

This book is a compelling story of a young woman who instead of swimming through life merely drifts along with the current. Always wanting to please others, always wanting to be accepted, the girl who is beautiful on the outside is empty inside. Her continual quest for acceptance moves her to continually change her face hoping that the "new" nose, cheeks and lips will solve her problems. Dealing with, and having a crush, on her non-board certified plastic surgeons add fuel to the fire as they slice and dice and literally bankrupt Hope (such an ironic name). Faced with a 6000 dollar fee, Hope turns to "modelling" and descends into the porn business sub-culture. As she states in the final chapter of her book, there is no Hollywood ending to her story. She marries, has children and continues her facial makeovers. This book was a strange, intimate journey with Hope. Story line aside, the book was extremely well written. Not a long read, but a memorable one none-the-less. Recommended!

It was frightening to read how easily this girl followed the cut and paste view of beauty. But I found myself thinking of my own bending to pressure in smaller, less drastic ways. A very well written book.

I picked this up quickly at B & N to read while having coffee becoz of its provocative title and cover. It hooked me immediately with its intimacy and easy-read flow. I rarely comment on a book but felt it was important to highly recommend this one. Kudos to the author. I'll remember this one for awhile.

This book is about much more than plastic surgery - the author did not have these surgeries just to improve her physical image. She suffers from an anxiety-related disorder that led her to obsess about her appearance and compulsively attempt to change it, just the way some people obsess about germs and compulsively wash their hands. Some of Hope's desire to change her appearance is more self-mutilation than self-improvement: "I...once believed there was nothing about my physical self that was worth preserving." The author has waged a valiant struggle to overcome her OCD behavior, through introspection and medication. The book's epilogue is particularly honest and touching, as she recounts some of her more recent battles with OCD thoughts and behavior. The book is insightful, well-written and gripping; I read it in one sitting. You may recognize yourself in Hope. I imagine that many people purchase this book thinking that it will be a sensational tell-all by a vapid bimbo who'd stop at nothing to be perfect, but that isn't what the book is about at all. It's about a woman whose life derailed and her quest to understand why and to rectify the situation. It's about overcoming one's upbringing and recreating a value system from the ground up. It's about introspection and personal growth, recognizing yourself for who you really are and not who others expect you to be. It's about coming to terms with mental illness and not being crippled by its stigma, but rather addressing it in order to move forward with a productive life.

I was in the middle of an end of summer reading slump when I was given a copy of this book. That night I picked it up with the intention of reading the first chapter to see if it could pull me in and encourage me into a second or third chapter. I had done this exercise with a stack of about eight books on my nightstand and expected the same result of putting it aside with the idea to read it later. Instead, I found myself not able to put it down and before I knew it I was on chapter five. As a 20 year old reader I found myself thinking if I were to tell my twenty something friends that, for instance, I didn't have a skin regime I would be met with shocked faces and gasps. This book is an amazing look at the consequences of appearance obsession instilled by today's society. It also captures the strength required to survive in our society when from a young age we are taught to value appearance so highly. A refreshing read on how truly shallow our world is becoming and the ability to see past appearance and see the more important things life holds.