Die hot with a vengeance Essays on vanity

In this confused debut collection, Yong, a former beauty editor at Allure magazine, sends mixed messages about the societal premium placed on good looks. A sharp critic of beauty culture, Yong laments in "No Fun in the Fun House" how Dove's ostensibly progressive ads suggesting "you're beautiful as you are" reinforce the notion that one's appearance is "the central defining characteristic of our identity." However, Yong espouses that same outlook later in the essay, writing that "beauty is... how I play with identity, how I visually communicate who I am." This contradiction is indicative of Yong's unsuccessful efforts to redeem the social obsession with beauty while recognizing its harms. In "No Gore, No Gorgeous," she recounts the painful procedures she's undertaken to change her looks (including a wince-inducing description of a botched bikini wax), but appears to regard the discomfort they caused as the price one pays for glamour. Attempting to reconcile such incongruities, Yong asserts that "a pleasant experience with beauty is possible when you engage with it on your own terms," but this pat explanation fails to acknowledge the ways in which notions of what constitutes beauty are reliant on social and aesthetic values that individuals have little power to change. Candid but conflicted, this will leave readers scratching their heads. Agent: Kate Childs, CAA. (July)

A vibrant essay collection about beauty, identity, and cultural acceptance. Is beauty only skin deep, or is it in the eye of the beholder? A social construct, or part of human nature? All of the above, writes Yong in this enjoyable book. The author examines the subject of beauty from a range of perspectives, including as a former senior editor of Allure, a bible of the fashion industry. She also looks back on her personal history as an Asian kid in a mostly white school. Yong has a clever, self-deprecating sense of humor, and she recounts her career as a procession of stumbles, steps forward and back, and lucky breaks. The author is conflicted about beauty: On one hand, she loves its aesthetic qualities, while on the other, she hates the way it promotes surface over depth. Even after leaving Allure, she continued to explore the nature of beauty, emphasizing how social media has radically increased the tempo of fashion cycles. Keeping up with the trends is an exhausting process, and many women (and men) become lost in the labyrinth of influencers, brands, and celebrity endorsements. Yong has a good time puncturing some of the wilder bubbles of the fashion business, and several of her essays are comically droll. Though she doesn't reach any definitive conclusions about the concept of beauty, she makes clear that the fashion industry is a business first and foremost, and its goal is to make profits. Consequently, women should bear its manipulative nature in mind, and perhaps get away from it every now and then. Ultimately, writes the author, "there is no inherent shame in taking pride in your appearance or wanting to look good, just as there's no shame in coming just as you are." Yong's take on beauty and fashion is revealing, playful, and heartfelt. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.