Three Faces of Beauty

"Ossman's trajectory is like the braiding and weaving of hair, like a dance of nimble fingers and scissors. She achieves a rare vividness for which anthropologists often strive but rarely attain."-James Faubion, Rice University "Susan Ossman lets us hear women's hopes for beauty and difference - out of or under the head shawl - in Casablanca, Cairo, and Paris. What a pleasure to linger in these beauty shops, where talk, the snipping scissors, and Egyptian songs help open the door to modernity. A delightful and insightful read."-Natalie Zemon Davis, Princeton University