Coffee Table Coffee Table Book [Hardcover]

Alexander Payne (Author), James Zemaitis (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Black Dog Publishing (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190103304X
• ISBN-13: 978-1901033045
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #808,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Best for the coffee table, March 5, 2005

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Coffee Table Coffee Table Book (Hardcover)

Probably the most interesting aspect of the "Coffee Table Book" is the obvious pun of the title; beyond that, it's basically a lot of avant-garde furniture. Most coffee table books are just giant books that sit and collect dust on people's coffee tables.

But this? It's a book, and it's about coffee tables. Get it? Yeah, yeah. So did "Seinfeld's" Kramer. And without the kooky sidekick to give it an entertaining twist, the "Coffee Table Book" really comes across as rather boring, except to aficionados of interior design.

The photography is quite pretty, and most of the coffee tables are interesting -- they range from futuristic to icky (a topless, leather-clad woman on all fours makes up the base of one -- shades of "Spinal Tap") to 100% ordinary. Some are flowing structures of metal, wood and glass, while others are garish blobs of plastic.

The problem is, you can only look at pictures of coffee tables for so long. And it doesn't help that the little text blurbs accompanying each picture really don't illuminate much. A tiny shred of history, and maybe a quote are included. As a result, it feels like a hardcover furniture catalog, with only one item of furniture included.

It's a cute idea, but the "Coffee Table Book" is too long and bland to be of any actual interest. It would be best on -- you guessed it -- the coffee table, so guests can chuckle at the title.

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK, September 27, 2011

By 

danielle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coffee Table Coffee Table Book (Hardcover)

If you had bought any of these tables, you'd probably be a millionnairee

and not be buying books at a discount.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who's the author?, July 29, 2005

By 

mjtimber (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coffee Table Coffee Table Book (Hardcover)

Well, you have to also consider the author of the book. Though everyone seems to know about the 'Seinfeld' episode, they don't seem to notice that Alexander Payne, of 'Sideways' and 'About Schmidt' fame, is the author. I'm fairly certain that he wasn't trying to pass this off as an original idea; he just thought it was a funny episode and, with his new found clout, decided to make the book a reality.