Five best: books on cosmetic surgery

Gerald Imber is an internationally known plastic surgeon. He has lectured widely on prevention and correction of facial aging, and has written numerous scientific papers and several books.

In 2005 he named a five best books on cosmetic surgery list for the Wall Street Journal.

One title on the list:

"Skin Tight" by Carl Hiaasen (Putnam, 1989).

Riotously funny, this early Carl Hiaasen novel has as its central character a venal, unscrupulous and blazingly incompetent cosmetic surgeon. Hiaasen's canvas is broad--really, the folly of civilization, with particular attention to the South Florida branch. And his palette includes oversize, outrageous behavior, fully two shades beyond reality. Every page made me roar with laughter as well as cringe for myself and my colleagues. Hiaasen makes us--plastic surgeons--remember what we are supposed to be and most particularly what we never want to become. The laugh is on all of us, both doctors and patients.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue