The unfortunate importance of beauty : a novel

Summary: "A magical and comedic take on modern love, the power of friendship, and the allure of disguise. Meet the Knights of Creation, a group of artistic friends struggling with society's standards of beauty. Barb, a stunningly beautiful costume designer, chooses to don a fat suit in hopes that it will help her meet the man of her dreams- a man who can see beyond her looks. Lily, Barb's brilliantly talented, unfortunate-looking musician friend, goes to fantastic lengths to attract the shallow man she loves. Penelope, neither beautiful nor talented, makes her living by selling hideous clay pots after convincing customers they've broken them. To complicate matters, the friends discover they may have a murderer in their midst, that Barb's calm disposition is more dangerously provocative than her beauty ever was, and that Lily's musical talents are more powerful than anyone could have imagined. Imbued with Amanda Filipacchi's characteristic twisted charm and absurdist, satiric wit, The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty is touching, whimsical, and gorgeously strange. "Filipacchi [creates] magic out of thin air. . . . One of our best satirists."-Neil LaBute"--Publisher.