Synopsis
With ribald, bitingly sarcastic commentary coupled with an intense feeling of design disgust, the humorous musings of author James Lileks run through this incredible collection of wildly colorful photographs of 1970s interior decorating style like caffeine through the blood stream. From the lurid reds, yellows, blues, and greens of an explosively colored entryway to an unspeakably opulent 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY-themed bathroom, complete with white fur covered floor, Lileks's inspired commentary creates a narrative theme for each photograph. The visual insanity of a red and white bedroom is described as taking "several sets of fresh cow lungs, stuff them with explosives, light the fuse, and shut the door," while a garden-themed print taken to extremes in another bedroom is "a great pattern! Let's use it for the bed! And the frame! And the chair! And the dog! And the driveway!" This stunning exploration of rooms is accompanied by full-color photographs.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2004-10-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 175 pages | | Height: | 8.5 in | | Width: | 8.0 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 24.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
“Sweet smoking Jesus, what was the matter with these people?”
Who knows? But we do need to accept the fact that otherwise sensible American housewives who would never grind a quaalude into their morning coffee or sleep with their tennis instructor nevertheless went daft during the 1970s and performed heinous acts of design on unsuspecting homes.
What James Lileks did for dinner with the critically acclaimed classic The Gallery of Regrettable Food, he now does to the wonderful world of 1970s home interiors. Blazing plaid wallpaper. Vertigo-inducing matching patterns on walls, rugs, chairs, pillows, and blinds. Bathrooms straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The whole ’70s shebang. If you think the ’80s were dumber than the ’70s, either you weren’t there or you weren’t paying attention.
James Lileks came of age in the 1970s, and for him there was no crueler thing you could inflict upon a person. The music: either sluggish metal, cracker-boogie, or wimpy ballads. Television: camp without the pleasure of knowing it’s camp. Politics: the sweaty perfidy of Nixon, the damp uselessness of Ford, the sanctimonious impotence of Carter. The world: nasty. Hair: unspeakable. Architecture: metal-shingled mansard roofs on franchise chicken shops. No oil. No fun. Syphilis and Fonzie.
Interior Desecrations is the author’s revenge on the decade. Using an ungodly collection of the worst of 1970s interior design magazines, books, and pamphlets, he proves without a shadow of a doubt that the ’70s were a breathtakingly ugly period. And nowhere was that ugliness and lack of style felt more than in our very homes, virtual breeding grounds for bad taste, manifested in brown, orange, and plaid wallpaper patterns. This is what happens when Dad drinks, Mom floats in a Valium haze, the kids slump down in the den with the bong, and the decorator is left to run amok. It seemed so normal at the time. But this book should cure whatever lingering nostalgia we have.
Exploring all the rooms in the house, Lileks marries the worst of design with the funniest of commentary. His sharp-witted humor, keen eye for detail, and ability to pull the most obscure 1970s references out of his hat make Interior Desecrations the perfect gift for those of us who languished away the decade watching Sonny and Cher, Donny and Marie, and Chico and the Man down in our rec rooms, sprawled out on the shag carpeting, waiting for it all to mercifully end. For those people born later and who may think it was all made up—it wasn’t. Would that it was! The photos in this book are not the product of some cruel designer gone crazy with Photoshop. They’re all too real. So adjust your sense of style, color, and taste. . . and beware! You’ve been warned.
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
