The Ugly History of Beautiful Things

Paris Review columnist Katy Kelleher explores our obsession with gorgeous things, unveiling the fraught histories of makeup, flowers, perfume, silk, and other beautiful objects.

Katy Kelleher is an art, design, nature, and science writer living in the woods of Maine. Her work has appeared in the pages of the New York Times, The Guardian, American Scholar, and Town & Country. She’s written online for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Jezebel, and others. She’s a frequent contributor to The Paris Review and spent several years writing a popular column on color, Hue’s Hue. Her essays have been anthologized in both Best American Food Writing and Best American Science and Nature Writing.