Obscene Interiors: Hardcore Amateur Decor (Hardcover)

~ Justin Jorgensen (Author), Todd Oldham (Foreword) "First of all, cheap is not a color scheme..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Very post–"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," this hilarious collection of photos drawn from Internet personal ads put the average Joe’s interior decorating under close scrutiny. What’s funniest about this slim and trim collection is that the men who originally placed the ads have been "grayed out"—reduced to solid silhouettes so as not to detract from the full effects of their decorating faux-pas (though likely Jorgensen’s initial impulse to obscure them had more to do with legal reasons). Those effects are heightened by arch captions from Jorgensen (justinspace.com), who writes of a gray figure sprawled out on a hideous plaid couch: "Who really cares if the couch clashes with the carpet? … It’s your place and it should make you happy." Other highlights include a figure manacled to a bed made up with leather sheets. "And, you’d better condition the leather before you use them," Jorgensen quips, "or your sweat will leave white sweat marks that will look like mildew." The photos are smallish and low quality, in keeping with their Internet sources, with Jorgensen commenting (with a wealth of double-entendres) on each crime against good taste. Will this book make men rethink what’s around them when they’re posing for their photos? As Todd Oldham says in his foreword, "as evidenced in almost every photo, we have tragic spatial issues when it comes to hanging art and objects." Or perhaps some people actually find fake wood paneling, bow-hunting equipment and overused leather armchairs irresistibly sexy.
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Product Description

Tongue-in-cheek critiques of the kitschy, dated, and shockingly bad amateur interior design found in boudoir and personal ad photographs -- with the bodies shaded out. Peruse a random selection of these photographs with professional designers, for a lively critique of these truly Obscene Interiors. With a foreword by designer Todd Oldham.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Baby Tattoo Books (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097293880X
• ISBN-13: 978-0972938808
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #887,367 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliantly funny & great gift, April 27, 2004

By	Eric Mueller (Los Angeles, baby) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

besides being snarkily funny, it's a perfect gift-- I've given four away already. check out the author's website (justinspace.com) for a sneak preview of the book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really, you should buy it., May 31, 2005

By	Justin Jorgensen "Author of Obscene Interiors" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is my book so I'm not unbiased in my giving it 5 stars, but disregard the inaccurate Amazon description above. Here's the deal: It's a collection of real online male personal ad photos with the figures obscured, and then my critique of the room's decor behind them. Fight Club author, Chuck Palahniuk included Obscene Interiors in his list of Top Ten Books of the past 10 years - Yay! And Dave Eggers had this to say, "Obscene Interiors is not only a cruelly brilliant idea, but it's executed with great cunning and even some warmth."

From the back cover: A first of its kind collection of online male personal ad photos featuring shockingly explicit amateur decorating action! Lamps, plants, curtains and couches mix it up in this graphic display of aesthetic perversion!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Can't. Stop. Looking., May 9, 2004

By A Customer

What were they thinking?! I mean, I can understand the roguish impulse to shoot naughty pictures of yourself and even to post them on the Internet. I've done it a time or two myself. But those lamps! And that wretched sofa!

This is a delightfully diverting little book. If there's a flaw, it's that it's too short by far. You can't put it down and you can't look away from these decorating disasters so, in the end, you want more, more, more deliciously awful decor to punish your eyes.

Or perhaps I'm just some sort of weird interior design masochist. It's possible.