Plastic Surgery Hopscotch: A Resource Guide for Those Considering Cosmetic Surgery [Paperback]

This book purports to be "A Resource Guide for those Considering Cosmetic Surgery". It's not. Its point is not to give you enough information about the pros and cons so you can make your own decisions; rather, it's a persuasion piece that tries to convince you to not have surgery -- while insulting you along the way if you're supposedly unprincipled enough to be considering it. ("[Cosmetic surgery] is thought by many to be a narcissistic, stubborn and silly indulgence of the wealthy and/or vain." He expresses this opinion repeatedly throughout.)

I'm no apologist for the industry. I agree that a frank examination of the risks of cosmetic surgery is necessary by anyone considering it. But this book isn't the honest look into that topic; it's a platform for the author's negative opinions and his attempt to talk you out of it.

Here's an example of how far he goes to dissuade people from surgery: "A crooked nose does not affect a person's health, but it can add character to the face and give the person a distinctive, or at least an interesting appearance." Right.

The book fails on other grounds as well, such as the fact that it's incredibly redundant. McCabe is so poor at trying to make his weak points that he repeats them ad nauseum, sometimes even repeating the exact same quotes that were mentioned earlier. p. 24, quoting Congressman Ron Wyden: "I think that many Americans are going to be surprised and frankly quite alarmed to hear that any doctor with a medical degree and State license can go out and do everything from brain surgery to cosmetic surgery." And again on p. 27: "I think that many Americans are going to be surprised and frankly quite alarmed to hear that any doctor with a medical degree and State license can go out and do everything from brain surgery to cosmetic surgery."

And by the thirtieth time he mentions that the doctors performing surgeries make a lot of money it's already gotten old.

Ironically, this book isn't even very helpful for its purported purpose: evaluating risks. That's because there are barely any statistics. For example, McCabe freely tells you what negative effects MIGHT happen as a result of surgery, but rarely tells you how LIKELY (or unlikely) these events are. That's probably because he's trying to imply that these events are much more common than they actually are.

The text is also decidedly unprofessional -- besides numerous grammatical errors and some wording which is downright sloppy, there are several passages which are signed "the author". (Well, duh! The author is usually the person who writes what's in a book unless there's some other attribution!) Many of the examples appear to be simply anecdotes, since they're not footnoted. Others appear to be a feeble attempt to prove something scandalous, when the story itself is actually rather tame (e.g., a doctor made a lot of money, a patient bled after surgery and required more blood, etc.).

Speaking of sources, there's a marked over-reliance on particular ones. In one 45-page section, a full 11 out of the 24 block quotes are from Congressman Ron Wyden during a congressional hearing.

The book is littered with contradictions as well. McCabe criticizes surgeons on the one hand for making a lot of money and then chastises those who make their rates competitive. And in the same breath, McCabe asserts that those considering elective surgery are "vain and insecure", even though those two words are direct opposites. (Which is it, McCabe?)

Then there are the parts that are either confusing or hold out on the reader by not answering the obvious questions that are raised. For example: "Any makeup used should be new, clean and hypoallergenic (be cautious when using products labeled hypoallergenic because not all companies follow the same standards)."

The most valuable part of the book is the part explaining that doctors are only loosely regulated and that it is easy for bad doctors to continue practicing. But in his zeal to indict cosmetic surgery, he neglects to mention the fact that these problems are inherent in THE ENTIRE MEDICAL COMMUNITY, not just to those doctors who practice cosmetic surgery.

Perhaps the most ironic thing is that even PRO- cosmetic surgery books contain detailed information about possible risks, up to and including death. Many websites run by surgeons and by marketing agencies also disclose such risks. That being the case, what value is McCabe adding to the body of literature on this subject? Not very much, especially because what good information is actually there is very easy to overlook when the author has gone out of his way to ensure that you don't trust him. In fact, persons considering elective surgery will likely be offended by this book and stop reading it, and thus avoid finding out about the things that are actually useful (such as what questions to ask your doctor) -- information they could also have obtained from another book that they were actually able to stomach reading.

I agree that cosmetic surgery is unnecessary and completely elective, that much of it doesn't significantly improve appearance, that there are serious risks, and that there are many bad doctors. If someone with these opinions dislikes this book so strongly, that should give an indication of how completely inaccessible it is.