Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes from the Horrible '70s | 
| Author: James Lileks
Publisher: Crown
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy New: $15.35
You Save: $8.60 (36%)
New (6) Used (8) from $6.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 518557
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 7.7 x 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 747.097309047
ASIN: B000SR1QQ2
Publication Date: October 26, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new! Beautiful! May have a small remainder mark (ink mark) along the edge. gift quality, crisp, clean, multiple copies available, prompt shipping, excellent service.
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Product Description
Warning!
This book is not to be used in any way, shape, or form as a design manual. Rather, like the documentary about youth crime “Scared Straight,” it is meant as a caution of sorts, a warning against any lingering nostalgia we may have for the 1970s, a breathtakingly ugly period when even the rats parted their hair down the middle. (Please note that the author and publisher are not responsible for the results of viewing these pictures.)
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 hideously grim period. This is what happens when Dad drinks, Mom floats in a Valium haze, the kids slump down in the den with a 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. So adjust your sense of style, color, and taste. beware!
You’ve been warned.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 48 more reviews...
 Argh yes the 70's. October 13, 2007
A certain picture of a rotating spit in the middle of a kitchen had me in stitches, i mean i ask you! only truly demented people would want to barbecue several chickens in the middle of their kitchen, must play havoc with the smoke alarm! Good fun though, buy the book ,feast your eyes on the hideous decor and laugh your socks off.
 lileks has better stuff elsewhere October 9, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
overall, i'm a big fan of lileks, but this is not his greatest book. it got really boring after a while and it felt like he wasn't even trying. the gallery of regrettable food and mommy knows worst are hysterical. definitely check out his website too.
Page after page of interior nightmares! June 24, 2007
"Sweet smokin' Jesus" just about sums up the only reaction you can have to this stuff. I absolutely hated the seventies and this book illustrates some of the reasons why. What disco music was to the ear these interiors are to the eye.
I love James Lileks books!
A funny book about the furniture and accessories from the 1970's May 28, 2007
This is a very unique book because it compiles examples of the MOD ERA furnishing styles, and the very "fashionable" furniture & accessories from the early to late 1970's! LOL! ....Most photos will make you laugh out loud!
As you flip through the pages, you'll be dumbfounded as to how people actually lived in those decorated 1970's homes! Example: the colors were so jarring,...just like some of the clothes were.... (Eg: flourescent orange and hot flourescent pinks throughout some our wardrobes and walls!! Ugh! ).
Anyhow, you will find at least one example of a home that you may have lived in, or visited ,---- sometime in the 1970's.
Also, the "cheapness" of some of the accessories truly comes through in this book's photos. You almost have to see the photos to believe them!
Though some younger kids may be enjoying the "RETRO look" right now,however, in seeing the actual accessories (and WALLPAPERS) in this book, the younger generation may possibly understand why the 1970's style lasted such a short time & was forgotten for almost 20 years!!
Lets' face it, the 1970s' were not known to be ultra-inspiring times in either the Fashion World nor the Decorating World. (Maybe the previous 1960's Fashions were indeed actually inspiring to many, --- but once Mary Quant and Biba closed it's doors in London, the quality went slowly down hill!... The Economic times, being a contributor to that downward spiral [Fashion] problem).
So when you look at this book, you'll be reminded as to why we were so eager to FORGET those Autumn Golds,Hot Pinks, and Avocado Green colors of yesterday!
RECAP: They way I look at this book, though, is that this book is indeed part of America's history!...It tells part of the story. Therefore, I'm glad I own it.
Laugh out Loud! March 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've read this book several times and I laugh so hard I cry - every time! I'm a mid-century modern aficionado, but this stuff is all wrong. James' writing is all right!
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