Book excerpt: Aesthetic surgery (AS) has become a cultural & medical fixture. This is the first systematic world history & cultural theory of AS. Touching on subjects as diverse as getting a nose jobÓ as a sweet-16 birthday present & the removal of male breasts in 7th-century Alexandria, Gilman argues that AS has such universal appeal because it helps people to be seen as a member of a group with which they want to or need to identify. He draws on an extraordinary range of sources to address basic questions such as: What surgical procedures have been performed? Which are considered aesthetic & why? Who are the patients? What is the place of aesthetic surgery in modern culture? Dozens of images of people before, during, & after surgery.