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The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Essays on Desire and Consumption
Bottom of the pile
24
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
8/100Critics
40/100Scholars
Author:
Katy Kelleher
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster
Date:
April 25, 2023
Katy Kelleher blends science, history, and memoir to uncover the dark underbellies of our favorite goods. She reveals the crushed beetle shells in our lipstick, the musk of rodents in our perfume, and the burnt cow bones baked into our dishware. She untangles the secret history of silk and muses on her problematic prom dress. She tells the story of countless workers dying in their efforts to bring us shiny rocks from unsafe mines that shatter and wound the earth, all because a diamond company created a compelling ad. She examines the enduring appeal of the beautiful dead girl and the sad fate of the ugly mollusk.
What The Reviewers Say
A work of rigorous and lavish overthinking.
Ambitious.
A magpie’s nest of research and anecdotes about the objects that attract her, the book examines the tension she feels between wanting the things she wants—clothes, cosmetics, home goods—and acknowledging the murkier story of how some of those items were made and marketed.
Surprising.
