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rlse's review
4.0
I was cruising along, thinking, "Oh yeah.. that's ugly. But it's not like it's the end of the world or anything." And then Oh Holy Crap I got to the bedrooms. My eyes are still bleeding.
sharonfalduto's review
A picture book of some of the atrocities committed against the interior of homes in the 1970s.
jegka's review
5.0
I laughed and laughed. The book is simply a collection of really bad design from the 70s with brutally hillarious commentary by the author. Definitely worth 30 mintues of your life if you are looking for a laugh.
llynn66's review
4.0
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.
moreadsbooks's review
3.0
I am now officially over my James Lileks phase. The food one is still the best of the lot.
carol26388's review
4.0
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/71book/5.html
murderbydeath's review
5.0
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/1104697/interiordesecrations
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/1104697/interiordesecrations
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