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.

"Desire and beauty go hand in hand. But both our craving to be known and our ability to create beauty have been marred by shame and trauma, collapsing our imagination for what God has for us. Weaving together neuroscience and spiritual formation, psychiatrist Curt Thompson presents a powerful picture of what it means to be human"--

"A personal and cultural look at the dark underbelly of Western beauty standards and the lethal culture of disordered eating they've wrought. In Dead Weight, Emmeline Clein tells the story of her own disordered eating alongside and through other women from history, pop culture and the girls she's known and loved. Tracing the medical and cultural history of Anorexia, Bulimia, and Orthorexia, Clein investigates the economic conditions underpinning our...