Kathy Lette — Nip'n'tuck

Pan Macmillan Australia Pty, Limited 2002 Paperback, 255pp. 'Lizzie's life seems pretty damn perfect, until she realises she's about the hit the dreaded 4-0. Show me a woman who's happy about turning forty and I'll show you the electro-convulsive therapy scorch marks. Losing her job to a young journalist is not the only ingrown pube in the bikini wax of Lizzie's life. Her surgeon husband, Hugo, unexpectedly falls for sabre-toothed trouser-hound Britney Amore, an actress who keeps fit by doing step-aerobics off her own ego. Even worse, Britney persuades the hitherto idealistic Hugo to operate in her new cosmetic surgery clinic. Lizzie has always believed brains to be more important than beauty, but up against a Sex Goddess, principles and profundity are about as useful as a eunuch at a whipped-cream orgy. Must she go under the knife herself to win back the man she loves? The answer is as obvious as a pre-1990 nose job.'--Provided by publisher. (ISBN: 9780330363419). Good.