Nip 'n' Tuck

by Kathy Lette

A hilarious and daring romp through the ugly side of the beauty industry, from the wonderful Kathy Lette.Journalist Lizzie McPhee has always thought of beauty as a case of mind over matter if you don¹t mind, it doesn t matter.But all that changes when she begins the countdown towards the big 4-0. Suddenly, she¹s comparing her butt buoyancy to that of women on billboards and worrying about wrinkles.But the pitter-pitter-pat of tiny crow s feet is soon the least of Lizzie s worries. In the space of twenty four hours, she is replaced as news anchor by a young himbo who keeps fit by doing step aerobics off his own ego. And then she catches her surgeon husband Hugo cheating with catty soap actress Britney Amore a woman whose bra cup size is bigger than her IQ.Suddenly, Lizzie is in free fall. Can she turn back the clock, and win back her life? Or will she discover there s a better way to grow older gracefully?

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Humor, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Kathy Lette divides her time between being a full time writer,
demented mother (now there's a tautology) and trying to find a shopping trolley that doesn't have a clubbed wheel.

Kathy first achieved succés de scandale as a teenager with the novel Puberty Blues, now a major motion picture.

After several years as a singer with the Salami Sisters and a newspaper columnist in Sydney and New York (collected in the book "Hit and Ms") and as a television sitcom writer for Columbia Pictures in Los Angeles, her novels, "Puberty Blues" (1979) "Girls Night Out" (1988), "The Llama Parlour" (1991), "Foetal Attraction" (1993), "Mad Cows" (1996),"Altar Ego" (1998) "Nip'N'Tuck" (2001), "Dead Sexy" (2003) and "How To Kill Your Husband (and other handy household hints)" (2006) became international best-sellers. Kathy Lette's plays include "Grommits", "Wet Dreams", "Perfect Mismatch" and "I'm So Happy For You I Really Am".

She lives in London with her husband and two children and has just finished a stint as writer in Residence at London's Savoy Hotel.

Kathy says that the best thing about being a writer is that you get to work in your jammies all day, drink heavily on the job and have affairs and call it research! (Although her husband says he should have the affair as it would give her a better book!)

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another hilarious book by the wonderfully funny Kathy Lette! I love the way Kathy writes, her characters are so real. As per usual, I was rolling around laughing while reading this book, as I've found with all of her books. Lizzie is approaching 40 and is having a hard time dealing with the ageing process, especially as she thinks her husband has his eye on a super-fit younger female. Lizzie contemplates going under the knife for an image overhaul, and it takes her a while to realise that beauty is not all about appearance. A fantastic read, I highly recommend! :)

[Simone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with the style of humour and wondered why people found it hilarious. I found the characters irksome and the plot so far fetched that it was just nigh on ridiculous.

[Amanda]

utter crap

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the beginning of this book and love Lette's style and humour. By half way I was still enjoying it but the story started to go a bit too far. I finished the book, I enjoyed it but felt a little disappointed by the end of it.

[Elise · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved the cover art - the rest of the book is weird

[🌼 Jenny 🌼 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, not to be taken too seriously, full of smutty humour. Might be considered a bit out dated but i enjoyed it. I thought in context a 3 star seems fair.

[Charlotte (Buried in Books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first encounter with Kathy Lette (although I have another 3 books on my shelves - if they are all on a par with this one I won't be buying anymore).

I actually got a little bit angry with this book. The 'heroine' of the story is a married mother of 2 who looses her job (reading the news on the BBC) and begins to believe her husband is having an affair the day after she turns 39.

1) I seriously wanted to punch her husbands lights out (the selfish b*****d) - honestly, if you think he's up to something chances are he is.

2) When he does finally come clean what does the mrs do?? Cosmetic surgery, so hubby will want her again - please, I may vomit.

She spends most of book saying she's happy the way she is, has surgery to get hubby back, then realises she was happier beforehand (but without hubby) and of course falls for the nice irish man next door who loves her just the way she is.

The ending just got so silly it was ridiculous.

[Faery · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to a funny read, and had read another Kathy Lette a few years ago but this seriously disappointed. It started off okay but went drastically downhill quickly. The characters are very narcissistic, shallow and so unbelievable. The plot line is so far-fetched it became ridiculous. There were a few spots of humour, but the puns and clichés made it tiresome.

I hate to criticise a book so harshly especially when I've enjoyed work by this author in the past, but I would not recommend this one.

[Melissa Burtt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had heard good things.....but I found the humour crass and the storyline unenjoyable with too many plot holes....sorry Kathy but not for me.

[Jennie Mortimer]

A friend bought this for my birthday and I read the first couple of pages it’s was absolute trash, put it away and 6 months later read a few chapters more and threw it away. Can’t believe someone would write this crap. Why??

[Alison Short]

A charity shop buy that is going straight back there. Awful book. Not funny at all. References to HIV and Karen Carpenter are gross. I understand the book is nearly 20 years old but I’d heard Kathy Lette was a comic writer, so I gave it a go. Big mistake.

[Dean Brkić · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knjiga koju bih preporučio mlađim prijateljicama :)

[Tianna H · Rating 1 out of 5]

first Kathy Left book i just can't finish. Such a narcissistic way of looking at yourself and takes a while to get out the head space of the main character.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

[Sallylm]

Absolutely ridiculous!

[sarah louise gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

Excellent book, easy to read and very funny in places, a good chick lit story, five stars
Loved the book

[Linnéa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great satire, every other sentence ends in a pun and it has a surprisingly accurate cast of sleezball characters. Four stars; I laughed!

[Summer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Over the top, far fetched and entirely lacking in humour.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read although I got angry at Lizzie's eagerness to hang onto her husband regardless of what he did.

[Rebekah Flanagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was amusing, I guess. Almost insulting to a woman over 40 though! 40 isn’t THAT bad! Lol

[Hrafnhildur Ýr Benediktsdóttir · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cliché about women turning 40. Not funny and not realistic.

[Bev Shirley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t like it. 70 pages was enough of the tasteless humour.

[Kitty McManus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely light read with lots of twists. A book for females to read

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

edit: Read it one last time before getting rid of it. Idk, it didn't strike me as so funny this time, just a really stupid cast of characters.

Pretty funny, although it didn't really make me laugh out loud. Some parts were a bit gory, and some parts familiar from the other book of hers that I read, How to kill your husband...

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of me ranted and raged at how stupid Lizzy was in parts. Angry how she was treated and how she let herself be treated. But she got her shit together in the end. All in all this was a very funny book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this really what happens to successful and beautiful women in their 50's. Makes me want to be gay!

[Anita Smith]

I tried to read this book on my lunch break. It was so bad that I gave up. This is definitely getting donated to my local library ASAP.

[Wedgie68 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a funny book! I was in stitches laughing while reading on the train reading alone. Very funny stuff!

[Caz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely disappointed :( to the point where I haven't picked up another Kathy lette book. Completely far fetched and ridiculous!

[Marie Delange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it, so funny. It is like watching a comedy. Not literature but then it was not meant to be.