The ugly history of beautiful things :

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Title :

The ugly history of beautiful things : essays on desire and consumption / Katy Kelleher.

Title:

The ugly history of beautiful things :

Author:

Kelleher, Katy

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

x, 262 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.

ISBN:

9781982179359

Production / Publication Information:

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2023.

Contents:

The mercurial charms of the mirror: on seeing and being seen -- Mouth full of petals, veins full of wax: on stealing, eating, praying, and playing with flowers -- Bright blue, cursed cuts: on gemstones, worry stones, and her majesty the diamond -- Spiraling: on the ancient appeal of shells, pearls, and mollusk-made wonders -- Live fast, die pretty: on wearing war paint, faces full of lead, and the makeup of makeup -- Dirty, sweet, floral, foul: the rank of backstory of perfumery -- Women and worms: The prismatic sheen of silk and its fairy-tale logic -- Deceptions and damnation: the molten glow of screens, the beauty of stained glass, and the treachery of spectacles -- Bone white, paper thin: on porcelain dishes, pale faces, and the complicated act of setting a table -- The exhalations of the earth: on marble statues, engineered stones, white lungs, and small lambs.

Summary:

In these deeply researched essays, a Paris Review contributor blends science, history, and memoir to explore human obsession with gorgeous things, exposing the fraught histories of makeup, silk, jewels, perfume, and other objects, helping readers to ethically partake in the beauty of the world around them.

Kelleher has spent much of her life chasing beauty. She can to see that whenever you find something unbearably beautiful, if you look closer, you'll inevitably find a shadow of decay lurking beneath. Here she blends science, history, and memoir to uncover the dark underbellies of our favorite goods. -- adapted from jacket

Bibliography note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-247) and index.

Language:

English

Added Author:

Kelleher, Katy. Mercurial charms of the mirror.

Kelleher, Katy. Mouth full of petals, veins full of wax.

Kelleher, Katy. Bright eyes, cursed cuts.

Kelleher, Katy. Spiraling.

Kelleher, Katy. Live fast, die pretty.

Kelleher, Katy. Dirty, sweet, floral, foul.

Kelleher, Katy. Women and worms.

Kelleher, Katy. Deceptions and damnation.

Kelleher, Katy. Bone white, paper thin.

Kelleher, Katy. Exhalations of the earth.

Genre:

Essays.

Subject Term:

Aesthetics -- Social aspects.

Consumption (Economics) -- Psychological aspects.

Consumer goods -- Psychological aspects.

Material culture -- Psychological aspects.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	178 KEL	31330009334461	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Amesbury Public Library	179.1 KEL	32114002766666	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dracut - Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library	111.85/KEL	31482003029777	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	178 KEL	30470002093770	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	178/KELLEHER K	31479007618423	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lawrence Public Library	178 KEL	31549005014237	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lowell - Pollard Memorial Library	178 KEL	31481005695171	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rockport Public Library	178 KELLEHER	32129002598976	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	178 KEL	31990005260703	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Paris Review contributor Katy Kelleher explores our obsession with gorgeous things, unveiling the fraught histories of makeup, flowers, perfume, silk, and other beautiful objects.

April recommended reading by the New York Times Book Review , Vanity Fair , Goodreads , Jezebel , Christian Science Monitor , All Arts , and the Next Big Idea Club
One of Curbed 's and Globe and Mail 's (Toronto) best books of the spring
A most anticipated book of 2023 by The Millions

Katy Kelleher has spent much of her life chasing beauty. As a child, she uprooted handfuls of purple, fragrant little flowers from the earth, plucked iridescent seashells from the beach, and dug for turquoise stones in her backyard. As a teenager she applied glittery shimmer to her eyelids after religiously dabbing on her signature scent of orange blossoms and jasmine. And as an adult, she coveted gleaming marble countertops and delicate porcelain to beautify her home. This obsession with beauty led her to become a home, garden, and design writer, where she studied how beautiful things are mined, grown, made, and enhanced. In researching these objects, Kelleher concluded that most of us are blind to the true cost of our desires. Because whenever you find something unbearably beautiful, look closer, and you'll inevitably find a shadow of decay lurking underneath.

In these dazzling and deeply researched essays, 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. With prose as stunning as the objects she describes, Kelleher invites readers to examine their own relationships with the beautiful objects that adorn their body and grace their homes.

And yet, Kelleher argues that while we have a moral imperative to understand our relationship to desire, we are not evil or weak for desiring beauty. The Ugly History of Beautiful Things opens our eyes to beauty that surrounds us, helps us understand how that beauty came to be, what price was paid and by whom, and how we can most ethically partake in the beauty of the world.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Science writer Kelleher (Handcrafted Maine) delivers grimly illuminating essays about the unseemly processes that produce beautiful goods. She examines what's required to bring such luxuries as gems, makeup, marble, mirrors, pearls, perfume, and silk to market and contemplates their appeal. Musk, she notes, used to be harvested by killing deer and extracting their pungent glandular sacs; natural musk has largely been replaced by chemical substitutes, but studies suggest these artificial fragrances disrupt hormone functioning and might cause tumors. Waxing philosophical about the draw of mirrors, she links the madness that came over early mirror makers, who inhaled the fumes of the mercury they melted to create reflective surfaces, with the "insidious" "cultural obsession with looks" that mirrors enabled. Kelleher eloquently interrogates the allure of luxury items even as she remains clear-eyed about the damaging social expectations that drive their value, as when she admits she gets a "thrill" from makeup shopping despite knowing it's motivated by unrealistic beauty standards that cause women to "exercise our desire until it becomes the strongest muscle in our hearts." The author's perceptive analysis and self-reflection raise intriguing questions about consumerism, aesthetics, and gendered understandings of beauty. The result is a thoughtful offering as precious as the goods studied. (Apr.)

Kirkus Review

Ruminations on beautiful things with dark origins. A love of beauty is an essential part of being human, writes Kelleher, a freelance journalist who specializes in design and visual culture. She admits that for her, the study of beauty is more than a profession, and she notes that her desire for lovely things rescued her from the depths of depression at several points in her life. However, she also realized that many of the things she loved had problematic stories behind them, which she explores while trying to find the roots of her own desires. The mining of gemstones often involves environmental degradation, and most diamonds are unearthed by workers who endure slavelike conditions. The author also loves perfume, but it has a troubling history. Whales were slaughtered for their ambergris, which was the basis of expensive scents for a long time, and other animals were likewise exploited. Many cosmetics have equally unsavory origins. The red coloring of lipstick, for example, comes from the shells of crushed bugs. Kelleher saves some of her sharpest barbs for silk, a fabric she has desired since she was young. The production of silk involves the careful unwrapping of silkworm cocoons, usually done by children. Even marble, whether in sculptures or tabletops, is dangerous to miners and masons, leading to numerous health problems. For Kelleher, all this creates terrible moral dilemmas, but she eventually came to terms with the duality. "I came to accept that desire and repulsion exist in tandem and that the most poignant beauties are interthread with ugliness," she writes. "There is no way to live without causing harm. Despite all that, we keep trying. At least, I do." Though occasionally pretentious and self-indulgent, the author has plenty of interesting things to say. Kelleher has always been obsessed with beauty, and this poetic book is a careful study of its ambiguity and meaning. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

To be captivated by beauty is a soul-enriching feeling, one that can defy rationalization. One loves what one loves, after all. But sometimes it's wise not to look too closely at the object of desire, to refrain from going beneath the veneer of beauty, for often there is a painful and ugly history behind its creation. Kelleher, once a moody, emotive teen, has always found herself drawn to the glittering light of diamonds, the sensuous feel of pure silk, the narcissistic allure of the mirror. A journalist who frequently chronicles opulent home décor trends on location, Kelleher is immersed in beauty in her professional and personal lives, although the latter is often on a less-expensive scale. What attracts her to a translucent porcelain plate or iridescent scallop shell, however, is often offset by the realization that these objects are rarely "untouched by the depravity of human greed or unblemished by the chemical undoings of time." Through personal revelation and scholarly research, Kelleher's engrossing essays cogently explore the unsettling dichotomy between the precious and the problematic, the seedy and the sublime to vividly reveal the pleasures and perils in pursuit of ideal beauty.

Library Journal Review

Art, design, and science writer Kelleher (Handcrafted Maine) offers a series of essays examining the underside of beauty. These essays, narrated with clarity and emotion by Cindy Kay, speak to people's instinctive desire for beauty and the manufactured desire for specific things deemed beautiful. Kelleher combines science, history, and memoir to describe desirability and the ugly truth about how beautiful things are made and obtained. The book delves into the history of products often considered beautiful, including glass, gemstones, cosmetics, textiles, mirrors, pearls, perfumes, and more. Beauty comes at a cost, however. The author piercingly describes how these luxury items damage the earth, exploit those who obtain raw materials, and benefit only a privileged few. While these items may provide pleasure, Kelleher emphasizes that the natural world is already full of beauty, and it is possible--and necessary--to experience beauty without possessing it. VERDICT A fascinating look at the history of beautiful things and how they came to be considered so while implacably revealing the ugliness beneath the veneer. Thought-provoking and earnestly narrated; recommended for all collections.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

Introduction	1
1 The Mercurial Charms of the Mirror
On seeing and being seen	11
2 Mouth Full of Petals, Veins Full of Wax
On stealing, eating, praying, and playing with powers	25
3 Bright Blues, Cursed Cuts
On gemstones, worry stones, and her majesty the diamond	47
4 Spiraling
On the ancient appeal of shells, pearls, and mollush-made wonders	77
5 Live Fast, Die Pretty
On wearing war paint, faces full of lead, and the makeup of makeup	97
6 Dirty, Sweet, Floral, Foul
The rank backstory of perfumery	121
7 Women and Worms
The prismatic sheen of silk and its fairy-tale logic	145
8 Deceptions and Damnation
The molten glow of screens, the beauty of stained glass, and the treachery of spectacles	169
9 Bone White, Paper Thin
On porcelain dishes, pale faces, and the complicated act of setting a table	183
10 The Exhalations of the Earth
On marble statues, engineered stones, white lungs, and small lambs	203
Conclusion	225
Acknowledgments	231
Notes	233
Index	249

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents