Laurie Essig Books

The story of how credit and cosmetic surgery have created a subprime mortgage crisis of the body. In this provocative book, sociologist Laurie Essig traces the history of plastic surgery, tracks the effect of fashion and porn on our desire to "fix" ourselves, and explores our image- and youth-obsessed culture. In over two hundred interviews of plastic surgeons and surgery recipients, Essig creates an unforgettable portrait of contemporary America. American Plastic is a powerful and original commentary on the relationship between cosmetic surgery, credit, and culture.

Examines the formation of gay identity and community in the former Soviet Union. This book presents the study of how and why there was no Soviet gay community or even gay identity before perestroika and the degree to which this situation has-or has not-changed since. It reveals the vibrant manifestations of gay life found at the local level.

The notion of “happily ever after” has been ingrained in many of us since childhood—meet someone, date, have the big white wedding, and enjoy your well-deserved future. But why do we buy into this idea? Is love really all we need? Author Laurie Essig invites us to flip this concept of romance on its head and see it for what it really is—an ideology that we desperately cling to as a way to cope with the fact that we believe we cannot control or affect the societal, economic, and political structures around us. From climate change to nuclear war, white nationalism to the worship of wealth and conspicuous consumption—as the future becomes seemingly less secure, Americans turn away from the public sphere and find shelter in the private. Essig argues that when we do this, we allow romance to blind us to the real work that needs to be done—building global movements that inspire a change in government policies to address economic and social inequality.