Awakening Beauty: An Illustrated Look at Mankind's Love and Hatred of Beauty [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

~ Anthony Napoleon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Awakening Beauty is an unprecedented exposé on the subject of beauty. It is both entertaining and thought provoking, a combination that is as unique as it is telling about the author's approach to the subject of this book. The reader is taken backstage into the worlds of beauty pageants, plastic surgery, trophy wives, murderous rage, wardrobe, makeup, Bill Clinton, the events of September Eleven and other provocative topics where beauty has had its effect. Awakening Beauty invites the reader into a world that is as interesting as it is frightening. Readers are transformed as the author shepherds them from their world into his unique perspective and expertise on beauty. Awakening Beauty includes over one hundred tantalizing photographs and illustrations.

Awakening Beauty is a compendium of some of the most interesting facts in print. The subject matter of the book along with the author's unique approach to it makes this book a "must read." Get ready to re-think everything you thought you knew about beautiful women and physical attractiveness.

About the Author

Dr. Anthony Napoleon's expertise on the subject of beauty and visual image is the culmination of twenty years of formal study and professional work. In the late 1980's he held a medical psychology fellowship in plastic surgery. His work in plastic surgery afforded him the opportunity to study, in depth, both patients and surgical procedures. Before that, he wrote a dissertation on the relationship between physical attractiveness, personality and family environment. In 1980 he conducted research at a large mental hospital in the Midwest, in a effort to ferret-out the connection between physical attractiveness and mental illness. For seven years he held a position at a consulting firm as a developer, writer and teacher of various subjects related to beauty and attractiveness, with the sole purpose of increasing both for his clients. Dr. Napoleon has judged over 100 beauty pageants, including The Miss and Mrs. California USA Beauty Pageants. Ten years after the original publication of his research which identified, for the first time, the personalities of patients who undergo plastic surgery, he still receives requests from all over the world for reprints from surgeons and students interested in the relationship between beauty and personality. He is currently a forensic analyst, retained by lawyers and interested parties to analyze visual image and other target data in order to make behavioral predictions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing; illustrated edition edition (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589393783
• ISBN-13: 978-1589393783
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,625,672 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably great book, June 15, 2004

By	s. a. wright (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

I saw this book and was intrigued by all of the famous people on the cover, like Howard Stern, Pamela Anderson, Jon Benet Ramsey, Bill Gates, Monica Lewinsky, and many others. So, I decided to buy it. It is one of those books that honestly, you don't want to put it down. Trying to not pick this book up and re-read a section you have read a dozen times before is like trying to avoid Krispy Kreme doughnuts when it is that time of the month. This book changed my life! I feel like for the first time I understand what I see on television, what I read in magazines and what all of it has to do with me and the way I look. After reading this book I even understand Howard Stern and Tom Leykis! The book should be required reading in every college in America. If I had read this book when I was 18, I would have saved myself years of misery and heartache. My friends and I have talked about the book so much that we thought about teaching a learning annex class on it. The photos are way cool, like the one of the wives and girlfriends of professional athletes, the photos of the celebrities without their makeup, the photos of the world's richest men, and the murderers. I wonder how the author got all of these really neat photos. This book is a guilty pleasure. I highly recommend it. If you have a face and a body you owe it to yourself to not only read it, but study it.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A no-holds-barred critical examination of tough questions, May 3, 2004

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Written by a former holder of a medical psychology fellowship in plastic surgery, Awakening Beauty: An Illustrated Look At Mankind's Love And Hatred Of Beauty is an unparalleled study that spares nothing in its examination of what beauty is and how its perception is intertwined with modern American culture for good or ill. Exploring the bright and seamy sides of beauty pageants, plastic surgery, trophy wives, wardrobe, maekup, and much more, Awakening Beauty combines black-and-white photographs with a no-holds-barred critical examination of tough questions about subjective values.