AMERICA BY THE NUMBERS: Facts and Figures...

AMERICA BY THE NUMBERS: Facts and Figures From the Weighty to the Way-Out by Les Krantz (Houghton-Mifflin: $10.95; 231 pp., illustrated, paperback original). Krantz’s quirky compilation of statistics offers an intriguing portrait of the nation. An estimated 41 million Americans have had cosmetic surgery (breast augmentation for women is the most common operation); 61% of the adult population was married in 1991 versus 72% in 1970; African Americans are the least likely to wed--37.1% had never been married in 1991. Interesting, but the reader should bear in mind that not everything can be quantified.