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Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes from the Horrible '70s
“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 either sluggish metal, cracker-boogie, or wimpy ballads. camp without the pleasure of knowing it’s camp. the sweaty perfidy of Nixon, the damp uselessness of Ford, the sanctimonious impotence of Carter. The nasty. unspeakable. 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.
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 either sluggish metal, cracker-boogie, or wimpy ballads. camp without the pleasure of knowing it’s camp. the sweaty perfidy of Nixon, the damp uselessness of Ford, the sanctimonious impotence of Carter. The nasty. unspeakable. 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.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published October 26, 2004
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354 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
March 28, 2015
I picked this up after a friend's review, not because I have any great interest in interior design, but because I was sort of hoping to see an echo of my parents' kitchen when we first moved in, a hideous display of avocado green--the appliances to the carpet--and dark brown wood accents on cabinets and paneling.
But Interior Descecrations is a level above the common 1970s ranch house. It contains pictures from designer-level showrooms and appropriately snarky commentary alongside. Apparently the book's genesis sprung from a website devoted to the visual atrocities of the period.
Amusing, to be sure, but these are hardly the more common visual manifestations that so wounded the senses. Although I do seem to remember a friend's kitchen that resembled this:
Honestly, who was the brain trust that convinced people to carpet their kitchens?!? Did they not have children in the 70s?
Commentary is meant only to amuse, not inform, with witty observations:
"To understand the full visual horror of this era, you have to visualize a man in plaid pants sitting on the sofa. Or any patterned pants, for that matter: this was a sofa designed to clash with humans. Nude people would clash with this sofa. Albino nude people would clash with this sofa. The Invisible Man would clash with this sofa. It is one of those perfectly rare pieces of furniture that clashes with itself. Just looking at it makes you feel as if you've bounced down the stairs in a box of cymbals."
"Fighting centipedes? A close-up of one's intestinal lining Difficult to say. But you can be sure the designer chose this scheme because it 'drew the eye upward.' Of course, one could say the same thing about the Hindenburg disaster."
"Here we have a mix of old green crap, new green crap and some stunning green transitional crap, all of which serve to give this room the exhausted, mealy flavor of overcooked vegetables."
That's the one!
These are horrifying photos with commentary worth of Mystery Science Theater 3000. It is a combination guaranteed to amuse--in small doses, as it will surely overwhelm in larger ones--much like these rooms.
My eyes!
As a bonus for those who want to consider reading, check out one of Lileks' pages. It's typical of the book commentary. And a seriously hideous room.
http://lileks.com/institute/interiors...
March 30, 2016
To this day I regret not having a camera handy to take a snap of this house I looked at that had caterpillar-striped shag carpet nailed to the walls.
May 8, 2025
-...
Eeek.!
I was there in the 70s. I remember walking into friends' houses in my high waisted giant bell bottom jeans, overcome with envy.
Who didn't have an Avocado green Tappan range and matching fridge. They also came in
Coppertone (brown) or Harvest Gold. Even a Poppy Red.
Strange wallpaper covered everything. Sunken living room conversation pits.
Bizarre colored couches. Sometimes, you stumbled down into this sunken living room but no one ever seemed to get hurt.
Hey, when you are young, you bounce, but do not break.
Macrame wall hangings were in every room.
We all must have drank too much lead in the city water pipes and in our brains, We thought all this kitchy eye-popping stuff was great back then.
This book is a nostalgic riot!
Eeek.!
I was there in the 70s. I remember walking into friends' houses in my high waisted giant bell bottom jeans, overcome with envy.
Who didn't have an Avocado green Tappan range and matching fridge. They also came in
Coppertone (brown) or Harvest Gold. Even a Poppy Red.
Strange wallpaper covered everything. Sunken living room conversation pits.
Bizarre colored couches. Sometimes, you stumbled down into this sunken living room but no one ever seemed to get hurt.
Hey, when you are young, you bounce, but do not break.
Macrame wall hangings were in every room.
We all must have drank too much lead in the city water pipes and in our brains, We thought all this kitchy eye-popping stuff was great back then.
This book is a nostalgic riot!
September 4, 2008
Ahhh, the 70s....they were the best of times (if you were a sweaty, coked--up-to-the eyeballs swinger on the make hoping your little bag of sweet sinsimellia would sedate most of the groovy chicks into your pad)...they were the worst of times (if you had any friggin' design sense or something approaching aesthetic appreciation.)
Lileks and I must have both spent the decade in that second category...firmly rooted in the 70s as the worst of times. Perhaps we both care too deeply about fabric, color, line, style and not experiencing cramp-inducing migraines when unexpectedly entering a room decorated by the demonic love child of Rhoda and Ron Burgundy.
My God where to begin? Interior Desecrations brings it all back with a vengeance. Wall paper on every surface that is not already covered in shag...much of this wall paper texturized with foil. The continuous screaming pattern on bedspread, walls, throw pillows and curtains. The sour and billious pallettes. Wall art created by psychotic day-campers. Flimsy and painful furnishings designed by HAL, perhaps? ("I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.")
Um, no...HAL. Just put the chrome ashtray shaped like a frisbee down, take your swatches of goldenrod and avocado synthetics and leave me to my private hell, ok?
I lived it. It was really that bad. And now I can take some pride in surviving this world of over-the-top tastelessness that was the backdrop to my formative years. Looking back, it is unbelievable...but certainly hilarious.
If you ever had a bean bag chair in your living room, grabbed your Tab out of a rust colored refrigerator, enjoyed a shag covered toilet or framed macaroni art for your walls...this is the book for you. Love it or loathe it, the 1970s is a stand-alone decade in craptacular awesomeness. Even if you were not yet born during the era of Captain and Tennille on TV and "You're Havin' My Baby (What a Wonderful way of Sayin' how Much You Love Me) on the FM dial...This "read in one sitting" lovingly created attack on the much maligned (yet unaccountably cool) decade is the cure for what ails you.
Lileks and I must have both spent the decade in that second category...firmly rooted in the 70s as the worst of times. Perhaps we both care too deeply about fabric, color, line, style and not experiencing cramp-inducing migraines when unexpectedly entering a room decorated by the demonic love child of Rhoda and Ron Burgundy.
My God where to begin? Interior Desecrations brings it all back with a vengeance. Wall paper on every surface that is not already covered in shag...much of this wall paper texturized with foil. The continuous screaming pattern on bedspread, walls, throw pillows and curtains. The sour and billious pallettes. Wall art created by psychotic day-campers. Flimsy and painful furnishings designed by HAL, perhaps? ("I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.")
Um, no...HAL. Just put the chrome ashtray shaped like a frisbee down, take your swatches of goldenrod and avocado synthetics and leave me to my private hell, ok?
I lived it. It was really that bad. And now I can take some pride in surviving this world of over-the-top tastelessness that was the backdrop to my formative years. Looking back, it is unbelievable...but certainly hilarious.
If you ever had a bean bag chair in your living room, grabbed your Tab out of a rust colored refrigerator, enjoyed a shag covered toilet or framed macaroni art for your walls...this is the book for you. Love it or loathe it, the 1970s is a stand-alone decade in craptacular awesomeness. Even if you were not yet born during the era of Captain and Tennille on TV and "You're Havin' My Baby (What a Wonderful way of Sayin' how Much You Love Me) on the FM dial...This "read in one sitting" lovingly created attack on the much maligned (yet unaccountably cool) decade is the cure for what ails you.
March 28, 2015
This was so funny! It's the same guy who gave us "The Gallery of Regrettable Food". I loved looking at these pictures. It's a bit embarrassing, but some of these pictures actually gave me a wave of nostalgia. Some were truly horrible. I suppose I was lucky that my mom despised shag carpeting as I was a child of the 70's. Actually, I don't think I knew anyone with shag carpeting but I sure do remember it from - somewhere? Most people I knew didn't have the money to hire a top 70's decorator so we made do with a mish mash from the 50's, 60's, and 70's so that tempered the horror just a bit. And by the time the 80's came around, we finally did get the harvest gold and avocado appliances. A bit late, but in the 70's we were still dealing with pink, black, and copper appliances from the days of yore.
Some funny quotes from this book (too bad you can't see the pictures):
"If you look at this room long enough, you can make up your own Love, American Style plots." The sad thing is I started singing the theme song while looking at this room.
And the comment on one room with lots of brown leather couches (and carpeting, and walls) - "You just know there's a De Lorean in the garage. And a pound of blow in the closet."
And to describe one girl's bedroom in various hues of brown and orange: "Is your little girl a cheerful, happy, bubbly little bundle of love and delight? This'll cure her. It's the Downer Browner room, specially designed to grind the brightest soul into a thin gruel of granola-hued joylessness."
Makes me glad I escaped the 70's with a pink and a blue room. Whew.
Some funny quotes from this book (too bad you can't see the pictures):
"If you look at this room long enough, you can make up your own Love, American Style plots." The sad thing is I started singing the theme song while looking at this room.
And the comment on one room with lots of brown leather couches (and carpeting, and walls) - "You just know there's a De Lorean in the garage. And a pound of blow in the closet."
And to describe one girl's bedroom in various hues of brown and orange: "Is your little girl a cheerful, happy, bubbly little bundle of love and delight? This'll cure her. It's the Downer Browner room, specially designed to grind the brightest soul into a thin gruel of granola-hued joylessness."
Makes me glad I escaped the 70's with a pink and a blue room. Whew.
February 24, 2019
These all look like alternate designs for Eleanor Shellstrop's house in The Good Place. I like that Lileks allows himself to succumb to an equal amount of whimsy in imagining the lives of the people who might have inhabited these spaces.
Occasionally I would spot an individual piece of furniture or decor that I actually liked and feel deeply ashamed.
Occasionally I would spot an individual piece of furniture or decor that I actually liked and feel deeply ashamed.
June 13, 2008
I am now officially over my James Lileks phase. The food one is still the best of the lot.
December 30, 2010
This is just so much fun. Lileks is a comedic writer (check out his websites) and this is a look at design pamphlets and actual homes of the 1970's. I was a kid then and I remember some of this stuff. It's a great romp through the absolute hideousness of the fashions from then. We were finally able to really get lots of color in paints and wallpapers and by god, we were going to use them. Even without Lileks write up this is just hysterical to look at. Some of his commentary had me red faced and gasping with laughter. These humor books are always a tad too expensive but what the heck. I can always pull it off the shelf for a reread when I'm feeling blue.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2008
I sent this as a gift to a friend who has a degree in fine arts and is a talented artist and designer, along with a book on the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) - I knew that once he regained consciousness and got over the bleeding from the eyes likely to result from some of the pictures, he would be laughing.
If you witnessed the 70s, you will find somewhere in this book the image of a room you've been in, maybe even lived in. Look around now and be humbly grateful, then wonder what those of us still around in another three decades will be saying about this time.
If you witnessed the 70s, you will find somewhere in this book the image of a room you've been in, maybe even lived in. Look around now and be humbly grateful, then wonder what those of us still around in another three decades will be saying about this time.
April 16, 2008
a truly wonderful/terrible book. I must confess that recently when I was watching old episodes of "Family Affair" I found myself swelling wit a strange longing towrds the marigold and avocado color scheme - along with the brown paneling. It seems like such an ideal environment all around - I love that show! It must bring back some secirity in childhood issue for me...
February 5, 2015
A cautionary tale in pictorial form of what happens when too much money, too little taste, and possibly too many drugs are mixed together. The commentary is biting, honest and hilarious. Truly, I loved this book from first page to last and it's going to be sitting on the coffee table for some time to come.
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/110469...
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/110469...
February 14, 2015
Filled with hilarious anecdotes about the 70s, this book was a humorous look into the 70s. I loved the author's thoughts and the topic of the book was simply amazing. Overall a good, funny book that had me interested enough to read more of this author's work.
September 28, 2010
Someday there will be humor books printed about today’s furnishings; especially the ugly-ass stainless steel “industrial”-look kitchen.
July 6, 2009
FUNNY! I haven't laughed out loud for this many consecutive pages in years. A couple of tid-bits:
"Surely [this design:] started with someone in a clown suit sawing puppies in half, and it just got worse."
"Hail the albino-dinosaur-prostate hanging lamp!"
"If you wanted a decor that contained so much red and so many candles that you could blame the sudden appearance of Satan on your furniture- "Well I certainly wasn't planning to have orgiastic relations with the cloven-hoofed embodiment of evil and fear, but when he's standing there in the fireplace shouting 'You have summoned me!', what's one to do?"- then this is a good room. Note: This is not a good room."
And my favorite (which is ten times funnier with the accompanying photo):
"No one ever, ever had sex here. At least not with anyone else. You can well imagine the fellow who decorated this room- Mod vinyl boots, Pete Townsend nose, a lurid boil on his neck, eyes that turned mean with frightening speed. He thought this place would impress women, not realizing that every detail makes his date want to bolt down the stairs. A hard box spring as a make-out bed? Please. A hard cold plastic pillow with hair-oil smears? Gross. And the carpet smells like spilled bong water and magazines that have been left in a damp basement. He puts on Knights In White Satin and insists she shut up and listen, and he closes his eyes to show how soulful he is... Something tells her to open her eyes when they're making out. His eyes are wide open. He's watching their reflection in the wallpaper..."
"Surely [this design:] started with someone in a clown suit sawing puppies in half, and it just got worse."
"Hail the albino-dinosaur-prostate hanging lamp!"
"If you wanted a decor that contained so much red and so many candles that you could blame the sudden appearance of Satan on your furniture- "Well I certainly wasn't planning to have orgiastic relations with the cloven-hoofed embodiment of evil and fear, but when he's standing there in the fireplace shouting 'You have summoned me!', what's one to do?"- then this is a good room. Note: This is not a good room."
And my favorite (which is ten times funnier with the accompanying photo):
"No one ever, ever had sex here. At least not with anyone else. You can well imagine the fellow who decorated this room- Mod vinyl boots, Pete Townsend nose, a lurid boil on his neck, eyes that turned mean with frightening speed. He thought this place would impress women, not realizing that every detail makes his date want to bolt down the stairs. A hard box spring as a make-out bed? Please. A hard cold plastic pillow with hair-oil smears? Gross. And the carpet smells like spilled bong water and magazines that have been left in a damp basement. He puts on Knights In White Satin and insists she shut up and listen, and he closes his eyes to show how soulful he is... Something tells her to open her eyes when they're making out. His eyes are wide open. He's watching their reflection in the wallpaper..."
December 11, 2013
Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes from the Horrible '70s - FIND THIS BOOK! *5+ infinity Stars**The Gush*
First let me say, I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this book. My husband introduced me to James Lileks' website in college and we spent hours laughing hysterically over his various posts. See The Gobbler and other crazy things on the site if you need a laugh. His sarcastic, side splitting commentary lampoons the bizarre styles and stories of past decades with wonderful illustrations from primary sources that nearly speak for themselves. So I was well acquainted with his style and knew what was coming. Or I thought I did. The images were...hideous. He's not kidding. He has an introduction where he warns the reader off in many bizarre and funny ways, which merely makes you want to read it more. It does not disappoint. Need I say more?There is no plot, just lots of pictures as bad or worse than this one coupled with some of the funniest commentary you will ever read. I laughed so hard I cried, chocked, and nearly couldn't breath. And that's knowing what was coming. This is going on my coffee table...now.
*The...non-Rant*
The one thing I think you should be warned about is that while he is in no way dirty, he is at times adult in the words he uses. If reading this to small children, just be aware of the words that might crop up.
*Conclusion*
I would personally go check out his website first, but I would definitely get this book. This is one of the funniest things I've read in ages.
First let me say, I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this book. My husband introduced me to James Lileks' website in college and we spent hours laughing hysterically over his various posts. See The Gobbler and other crazy things on the site if you need a laugh. His sarcastic, side splitting commentary lampoons the bizarre styles and stories of past decades with wonderful illustrations from primary sources that nearly speak for themselves. So I was well acquainted with his style and knew what was coming. Or I thought I did. The images were...hideous. He's not kidding. He has an introduction where he warns the reader off in many bizarre and funny ways, which merely makes you want to read it more. It does not disappoint. Need I say more?There is no plot, just lots of pictures as bad or worse than this one coupled with some of the funniest commentary you will ever read. I laughed so hard I cried, chocked, and nearly couldn't breath. And that's knowing what was coming. This is going on my coffee table...now.
*The...non-Rant*
The one thing I think you should be warned about is that while he is in no way dirty, he is at times adult in the words he uses. If reading this to small children, just be aware of the words that might crop up.
*Conclusion*
I would personally go check out his website first, but I would definitely get this book. This is one of the funniest things I've read in ages.
February 10, 2010
This one was only okay. The topic of '70s interior design is certainly ripe for ridicule, but James Lileks just seems angry about it. He has a few good lines, but the overall tone is more mean-spirited than playful or funny. Still love him with all my heart, but this was a bit of a missed opportunity. Great photos, though. I enjoyed my own private game of "find the ashtrays" as I looked at each picture.
August 1, 2016
To look at, this is a great book, focusing on many of the horrible decorating trends of the 1970s. Reading it is another thing. I find his "bitingly funny commentary" to be heavy-handed and overdone.
It's hard not to remember the horrible colors. Too much orange, avocado and olive greens, harvest gold. Not to mention the truly hideous shag carpet. Somehow I don't remember the focus on shiny-foil wallpaper or the all-over-everything plaids and prints because we never had any.
It's hard not to remember the horrible colors. Too much orange, avocado and olive greens, harvest gold. Not to mention the truly hideous shag carpet. Somehow I don't remember the focus on shiny-foil wallpaper or the all-over-everything plaids and prints because we never had any.
December 18, 2007
I think he's a little too sincerely negative about disliking this stuff - back before there was a book, he was the one that got me started collecting old design books from the 70s with his witty commentary on his website. Somewhere along the line he got mean about it. I give the book 4 stars for the awesome pictures!
February 15, 2011
The Better Homes and Gardens features on Lileks' website had been my favorite time-waster for years before this book came out, so I was delighted by this collection. The rooms are horrifying, but his analysis of each one is spot on. Whenever I need a bit of a laugh, I pull this beauty out and look at a page or two.
November 7, 2009
Another salvo of sarcasm aimed at past fads. Not quite as hilarious as The Gallery of Regrettable Food, but a fast, funny read in its own right, and the subject material itself - interior design of the 70s - is actually harder to believe than the regrettable food.
February 17, 2016
OMG my eyes! Instant migraine. Worse were the few pages that did not look too terrible. Clearly, when faced with decoration horror after feculent horror, the mind corrodes.
Fun book. Great gift for artists or decorators with sense enough to scream in pain at each page.
Fun book. Great gift for artists or decorators with sense enough to scream in pain at each page.
September 17, 2014
Cringe worthy decorating you have to see to believe! Matching patterned couch, wallpaper and curtains - why not?
February 5, 2016
Absolutely hysterical. I laughed out loud so long that my pets gave up on me (they've never heard me laugh like that).
July 12, 2016
A collection of horrifically decorated homes from the 1970's, with witty (and sometimes lengthy) descriptions.
April 4, 2017
The text wasn't funny although it was suppose to be . Needed bigger pictures.
September 9, 2007
A Christmas present, I perused Interior Desecrations : Hideous Homes from the Horrible '70s that very afternoon.
While the 1970's may seem like an easy target, James Lileks has gone above and beyond his duty to find truly awful interior design examples from the Me Decade. Harvest gold and avocado barely rate a mention compared to the hypnotic patterns, schizophrenic objets d'art and clashing colors displayed in this book. As in his previous publication, The Gallery of Regrettable Food, Lileks' delightfully snarky commentary is the only thing saving the reader from brain damage.
Each chapter showcases unsightly photos of presumably professionally designed rooms, starting with entryways. I found it amazing how garish some of these foyers were! Living rooms were next on the skewer, with examples of ultra-modern (and ultra-uncomfortable) living. The abstract art deserves special contempt, as do the "swinging bachelor pads". Bathrooms rate only a few pages (including the Junior Pothead Confuse-O-Room), then on to the bedrooms. One Pattern Fits All seems to have been a common theme; and the patterns must've spawned their share of nightmares. Mirrored wallpaper is just creepy. Kitchen and dining areas span the gamut of country kitsch to futuristic, but are all pretty scary.
Lileks wraps up this tour with dens and family rooms. Here we find acres of multi-colored shag and goofy-looking furniture, as well as the Shelf-O-Shit (his only foray into the obscene; but it deserves it, believe me!)
Recommended to those of us who regret having lived through this decade, especially if we were too young to have a say in the decor.
While the 1970's may seem like an easy target, James Lileks has gone above and beyond his duty to find truly awful interior design examples from the Me Decade. Harvest gold and avocado barely rate a mention compared to the hypnotic patterns, schizophrenic objets d'art and clashing colors displayed in this book. As in his previous publication, The Gallery of Regrettable Food, Lileks' delightfully snarky commentary is the only thing saving the reader from brain damage.
Each chapter showcases unsightly photos of presumably professionally designed rooms, starting with entryways. I found it amazing how garish some of these foyers were! Living rooms were next on the skewer, with examples of ultra-modern (and ultra-uncomfortable) living. The abstract art deserves special contempt, as do the "swinging bachelor pads". Bathrooms rate only a few pages (including the Junior Pothead Confuse-O-Room), then on to the bedrooms. One Pattern Fits All seems to have been a common theme; and the patterns must've spawned their share of nightmares. Mirrored wallpaper is just creepy. Kitchen and dining areas span the gamut of country kitsch to futuristic, but are all pretty scary.
Lileks wraps up this tour with dens and family rooms. Here we find acres of multi-colored shag and goofy-looking furniture, as well as the Shelf-O-Shit (his only foray into the obscene; but it deserves it, believe me!)
Recommended to those of us who regret having lived through this decade, especially if we were too young to have a say in the decor.
January 16, 2013
Oh my gosh, this book is HYSTERICAL. I didn't even have to suffer through the design disaster that was the 70s to appreciate the heinous photos and biting quips. At one point, I was laughing so hard I had to excuse myself from the library before I disturbed other patrons.
My favorite excerpts, this one describing a blinding red and yellow bathroom that belongs only in Ronald McDonald's nightmares: "We can't really blame the '70s for this, but what's the deal with putting animal feet on tubs? It's like insisting that all pianos should have tails, or dinner tables should have scrotal sacs. One of the things we like about tubs is their immobility, their general disinclination to bolt out of the room, scramble down the stairs, and make for the woods in a blind feral panic" (p 85).
And another one, an overly intricate and completely non-functional pink atrocity with a Classical-meets-Barbie theme: "This is the room equivalent of those guest towels no one feels comfortable using. No guest would dare to have a movement here. And if you did, it had better be small, compact, noiseless, free of aroma, and preferably ceramic, making a bell-like 'clink' as it hits the bottom of the bowl. Remember! Excrete rhymes with discreet" (p 79).
I am SO looking forward to reading Lileks' book "The Gallery of Regrettable Food."
My favorite excerpts, this one describing a blinding red and yellow bathroom that belongs only in Ronald McDonald's nightmares: "We can't really blame the '70s for this, but what's the deal with putting animal feet on tubs? It's like insisting that all pianos should have tails, or dinner tables should have scrotal sacs. One of the things we like about tubs is their immobility, their general disinclination to bolt out of the room, scramble down the stairs, and make for the woods in a blind feral panic" (p 85).
And another one, an overly intricate and completely non-functional pink atrocity with a Classical-meets-Barbie theme: "This is the room equivalent of those guest towels no one feels comfortable using. No guest would dare to have a movement here. And if you did, it had better be small, compact, noiseless, free of aroma, and preferably ceramic, making a bell-like 'clink' as it hits the bottom of the bowl. Remember! Excrete rhymes with discreet" (p 79).
I am SO looking forward to reading Lileks' book "The Gallery of Regrettable Food."
August 16, 2008
Personally, I feel nostalgic about the 70s, and I think that James Lileks harshes on that decade a little too much, both here and in his other works.* I'll concede the point, however: the examples of interior design in this book are mind-numbingly atrocious, and Lileks's commentary is, as usual, as hilarious as it is incisive. If you enjoyed Lileks's masterwork, A Gallery of Regrettable Food, you'll find this a worthy successor. Gaze upon color schemes that even a blind man could not contemplate and stay sane. See furniture guaranteed to provide you with a crippling backache within ten minutes of use or double your money back. And puzzle over bizzare abstract artwork that will make you long for good old representational art—like Picasso.
*Perhaps I'd feel differently if I were ten years older. After all, I spent most of my young adulthood in the 80s, though for me, popular culture didn't really go to pot until the advent of grunge and the "X-TREME!!!!!!" fad of the 90s.
*Perhaps I'd feel differently if I were ten years older. After all, I spent most of my young adulthood in the 80s, though for me, popular culture didn't really go to pot until the advent of grunge and the "X-TREME!!!!!!" fad of the 90s.
October 22, 2009
So, I kind of flipped through this book, and the pictures alone (even if they're poor reproductions) are pretty awful and worth a look. But I wasn't really "into" James Lileks tone. He's kind of mean, excessively snarky, and sometimes he just tries to hard. But that's why there's that phrase, "Don't judge a book by it's cover, or even a few out of context pages." Because when taken as a whole, these rooms deserve to be made fun of, even if it is a little harsh, Lileks is almost unabashedly snarky, and for all the times he tries to hard, there are 4 other times when he hits the nail on the head. This is also not a book to be enjoyed alone. In fact, when I came across it, a group of giggling teens were laughing/enjoying it together, probably making their own snarky, slightly mean comments. So find some friends and enjoy the sometimes bizzare, always ugly homes and room designs of the 70's.
April 17, 2008
Dian told me that this was the least funny of James Lileks' books, and I think she was right. However, since the other two books of his that I read (The Gallery of Regrettable Food and Mommy Knows Worst) were two of the funniest books to ever cross my path, "least funny" doesn't neccessarily mean "not funny."
This book is funny and worth checking out by borrowing it from you library or requesting it through interlibrary loan.
If nothing else, it's interesting to see how interior designers were telling people to decorate their homes in the 70s. I grew up in the 70s and I never saw anything half as hideous as the tamest room in this book, but maybe no one I knew had enough money to be that ridiculous.
This book is funny and worth checking out by borrowing it from you library or requesting it through interlibrary loan.
If nothing else, it's interesting to see how interior designers were telling people to decorate their homes in the 70s. I grew up in the 70s and I never saw anything half as hideous as the tamest room in this book, but maybe no one I knew had enough money to be that ridiculous.
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