Beautiful Stranger: A Memoir of an Obsession with Perfection

by Hope Donahue

Book Overview

Hope Donahue seemed to have it all: beauty, wealth, social status. She was an only child who grew up with the best private schools, debutante balls, and a home in Hancock Park, Los Angeles?s old-money enclave. But beneath the family?s fa?ade of keeping up appearances,? Hope hid a host of ugly truths, including a mother increasingly jealous of her daughter?s good looks, an uncle?s sexual advances, and a father who cowed to the demands of his wife and coolly reserved parents. Hope became addicted to a quest for physical perfection in place of her self-esteem?and by the age of twenty-seven she had undergone seven plastic surgeries. In riveting, unflinching prose, Hope recounts her downward spiral that alienated her family and friends, and led her to theft, bankruptcy, and a sadistic relationship before she began her recovery.A powerful response to a culture obsessed with extreme makeovers and risky procedures that promise flawlessness, Beautiful Strangeris a timely, cautionary tale. Her story will inspire the countless women and men like her who struggle every day in a culture that feeds us dangerous images of unattainable perfection.Beautiful Strangeris a dark, scary, and important story of how broad social trends shape the suffering of individuals?how, in the author?s case, the beauty addiction of a whole culture is mapped onto a dysfunctional family and an obsessive compulsive disorder. Donahue perfectly captures the predatory style of a certain kind of surgeon?at once seductively flattering and solicitous and yet always on the prowl for access into the faces and bodiess of the vulnerable.? ?Virginia L. Blum author of Flesh Wounds

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592400744
• ISBN13: 9781592400744
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Gotham Books
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Appearances are deceiving

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!

Shocking and frightening

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'm surprised this isn't a bestseller

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.

It's about more than plastic surgery

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.

A Vital Read for Our Appearance Obssessed Society

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.