Book Review: “Men are Stupid …and They Like Big Boobs” – by Joan Rivers

Subtitled “A Women’s Guide to Beauty through Plastic Surgery”, Joan Rivers and her co-writer Valerie Frankel have written an easy-to-read primer on cosmetic plastic surgery. At 15 chapters and 284 pages, the book covers all the typical cosmetic surgical procedures and non-invasive techniques – but it’s a quick and easy read. And there’s no doubt, Joan Rivers certainly has a great deal of personal experience with plastic surgery. Some might say, a little too much experience, but that’s another topic altogether.

Overall, I have to compliment Ms. Rivers: the factual content of the book is really quite good; better than I thought it would be. She’s interviewed a number of top quality plastic surgeons, and done her research. The presentation is very easy to understand and not intimidating for non-medical readers….she’ll also warn you ahead of time if she’s about to discuss something a bit gory, like possible complications or off-putting details of surgery. Her recommendations for finding a board-certified plastic surgeon are solid, and her balanced approach to the pluses and minuses of surgery is even-handed and sensible.

Of course, there are plenty of humorous bits which keep things light (which I won’t spoil by quoting them here!), particularly when she’s skewering other celebrities’ surgical results with the classic Rivers wit.

Overall: recommended. It covers much of the same ground as “Plastic Surgery for Dummies”, but with more comedic flair.