Plastic Surgery: The Kindest Cut

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Camp followed Minnesota plastic surgeon Bruce Cunningham as he performed breast enlargements and reductions, nose jobs, tummy tucks and liposuctions, as well as restorative surgery on victims of cancer and accidents. The result is a book that's thoroughly engrossing. Camp spares nothing: he tells us what it's like to see flesh cut and smell veins cauterized; he relates Cunningham's frustration when he cannot create a perfect nose; he even rewards our worst fears by reporting how a surgical team talks about a patient once she's under anesthetic: ``Gee, I don't know,'' muses a resident while the surgeon is trying to determine what size breast implant to use, ``If she wanted to be in the B-C area, that might be a little small.'' In another case a nurse, noticing a patient's scars from previous plastic surgery, remarks, ``What is she trying to do, make herself into the perfect woman?'' Potential patients may find Camp's frankness somewhat daunting, but overall, he has written a sympathetic account not only of those who practice the art but also those who seek it out. (May)