Customer Reviews

The Book of Tiki

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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What a fabulous book! The definitive book on tiki culture! I can't imagine that anyelse could ever surpass the excellent work done by Sven Kirsten. This book is truly a joy. I'll often rush through a new book but I took my time with this beauty. Entertaining, absorbing and stylish, it's just as much fun to merely look at as it is to read it. Each page is an adventure. I was impressed by the scope of the book - it deals with not just restaurants but with motels, apartment buildings, home entertaining, etc. Sven Kirsten also profiles the major innovators and originators of tiki culture. The best part is that the book is presented (tongue in cheek) as a guide to the urban archaeologist, interested in uncovering the remmnants and traces of the now-extinct tiki culture.

A must-have book!

Tiki worshipers -- we are not alone! Our friends at LuxuriaMusic.com live and breath Tiki, and the Millionaire has kindly written a thoughtful review on "The Book of Tiki." A notable excerpt from this is:

"Possibly the most difficult aspect of reviewing this comprehensive study of Polynesian pop is that it stands alone, unassailable. It's difficult to apply any critical distance to a work like this, and it's not that nothing else approaches its thoroughness or insight: the fact is that there is simply nothing else of the sort available. Whatsoever. Anywhere. Kirsten has literally "written the book" on a phase of pop culture that once encompassed architecture,interior design, clothing, music, food, entertainment and much more, yet passed from a ubiquitous vogue to decay and disregard without ever having enjoyed critical respect or even any substantial recognition.

It does not happen often that a new facet of American pop culture that has not been recognized before gets discovered. With his Book of Tiki Sven Kirsten succeeds in establishing a style that has been overlooked by art critics and historians alike. Through an amazing amount of visuals Kirsten proves how Tiki in it's heyday influenced every walk of American life, from architecture, design and graphics to food and drink.

In addition to the rich imagery (which affords the viewer an almost physical experience of the phenomenon) Kirsten's writing traces back the origins of the style to the Western fascination with Polynesia and, without becoming too analytical and dry, enlightens the reader on the motives for this escapism.
The chronicler's ironic enthusiasm for his subject saves him from becoming judgmental and falling for easy, politically correct conclusions.
We are guided through the history of Polynesia as an eternal metaphor for an earthly Eden up to the point where Americans fell in love with this vision.
Here Kirsten conveys how the post-war need for more moral freedom coincided with the tales of Pacific war theater veterans and the 50s idealization of Hawaii as a dream vacation destination.
In taking the guise of an urban archeologist who (as is done in classic archeology) discovers a lost culture through it's objects and artifacts, Kirsten accomplishes to throw light on a fascinating chapter of American pop that has so far lingered in obscurity.

I just glanced through this book at a local bookstore and was in heaven. It's priced much lower here on Amazon, so buying it on-line is the way to go. Actually, I was a bit envious as this is the definitive book I would write on Tiki culture if I could. The history, factors, collectibles and magic of Tiki are covered in tremendous detail. Amazing illustrations, photos, trivia, historical notes and more await all fans of Tiki culture. I would say that Kirsten's book delves further into Tiki culture than any book this Tiki collector has ever seen. Simply a must buy for anyone who loves Tiki culture, or anyone looking to discover the magic of this "lost" time. I'm buying 2 copies--one for my friend and one for me.

I got a big kick out of this book--the author's dedication and perseverance amazes me (and I have done a lot of research of my own into various obscure topics, so I know what it takes). Terrific illustrations and a nice, funky layout. Anyone interested in oddball Americana, particularly the cartoonish weirdness that occurs when we apply our marketing skills to mysterious foreign cultures, ought to hustle out and buy this book. I'm not sure what language it was written in, because the text contains some odd usages, a few minor editorial problems (two chapters with the same number, in my book) and a handful of skewed captions. But none of these things bothered me much, because it was so much fun to look at. I love the concept of "urban archeology," although in the case of Tiki bars, it seems that the bulldozer and wrecking ball are providing too many final solutions. The book does make me wonder where my nearest Tiki relic might be. Maybe I'll join the hunt.

A thorough, tongue-in-cheek (but loving) exploration and explanation of the nearly-defunct American pop Polynesian phenomenom.
The Book of Tiki covers every possible area infiltrated by the almost 100%-bogus South Seas "god", the Tiki. They are all here, from the famous founding fathers (Don the Beachcomber, Trader Vic) to the mostly unknown (and mostly un-Polynesian) artists and architects of "tiki style" to the restaurants, menus, drinks, artifacts, not to mention hotels, motels, apartments, miniature golf courses, amusement parks and rec rooms. Filled with lots and lots of photos, drawings, graphics, ephemera in glorious, kinetic profusion, the Book of Tiki will have you rifling through your junk drawer for that old swizzle stick from Hawaii Kai or surfing the tiki collectables on Ebay for sure.
At the same time there is a lot to learn here about the temporal nature of pop culture and how "a cultural icon is in its greatest peril of being destroyed right before its value gets rediscovered"

This is THE book on the Tiki Americana craze that swept the US shortly after World War II. Sven Kirsten authoratively looks at Tiki- and South Seas-inspired cuisine, drinks, architecture, music, clothing and more. The book is PROFUSELY illustrated: you'll never tire of flipping through the book. I've got several tiki-themed books in my collection, and this one beats them all! Affordably priced, too.

If you have any passing interest in the tiki culture of the 50's and 60's this book is for you. Containing hundreds of rare photographs, matchbook covers, swizzle sticks, and more, this book stands unparalled in its field.

About the only thing missing is a chapter on the Exotica music which closely tied to this culture - the tunes of the era get only a very passing reference.

That said, YOU WILL NOT REGRET purchasing this book.

This book is a work of pop art - every page so loaded with photos (and text) in such a pleasing manor that you could rip the pages out and hang them on the wall. Everyone I have shown this book to has run out and purchased their own copy, even people who were never into tiki culture!

Get this book and you will be inspired to put together your own private island paradise wherever you are.

Each turn of the page reveals new wonderful surprises. A thoroughly enjoyable collection of photographs and stories about tiki culture of the 50's and 60's. The author takes a unique approach--he is an "urban archeologist" in search of a lost culture that flourished briefly, than mysteriously dissappeared. But relics have been left behind in the way of matchbooks, tiki glasses, postcards, menus, and old signage. Great reading and also fun to just flip through the photos.