The Book of Tiki by Sven Kirsten Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Book of Tiki
Book Review: Lives up to the title
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is such a great collection of tiki decor and knick-knacks that you don't even need to read the captions to enjoy it. My wife and I want to turn one of our rooms into a tiki bar. We thought we would need to do a lot of looking to get a good idea of what real post-war tiki bars were like. Well, look no further. This book has it all. If you type in "tiki" in an Internet search engine, it wouldn't come up with this many ideas. This book reviews everything from the blue prints to the big tiki restaurants down to the coasters underneath the amazing assortment of tiki mugs. The title could not have been more appropriate. This is the definitive book of tiki. Have great fun looking through the book. Depending on your age, it might make you nostalgic for those lost days.Book Review: More Tiki Than You Can Shake A Torch At
Summary: 5 Stars
Like all Taschen books, this book is visually STUNNING! Just leafing through the pictures never gets boring. The real treat is the book is also jam packed facts, folklore, drink recipies, and so much more. More information about Tiki than I ever knew existed. Plenty of eye-candy in this book, but very well balanced with informative and fun content. A must have for the Tiki enthusiast!
Book Review: Sven Kirsten defines an era!
Summary: 5 Stars
Truly a wonder of nature this Book of Tiki. Chances are, you might so your parents or grandparents in the pictures, from the days before you considered them old.
The text of the book goes briefly through the various sources of Polynesian pop-culture, and where it branched off. From Michener's South Pacific, to the Lanai apartments in Anytown, USA.
The pictures, brought through the archives of time in the form of various postcards and of the now empty lots that once were Tiki bowling alleys and apartments, show us a fascinating time of tehnicolor wonder and primitive naivete. This was before PC was PC.
All around, a fantastic read, whether you're a full on tiki freak, or you simply wonder why grandpa wore a Hawaiian shirt to your wedding.
Book Review: THE Classic On The Subject! 'Nuff Said.
Summary: 5 Stars
Well... not QUITE 'nuff!
On assignment from Tiki Magazine, I had the pleasure, last year, of interviewing Sven at his spectacular mountaintop retreat in Silverlake which is a veritable Polynesian Pop wonderland! But, much like that term which he so helpfully coined, this indispensable tome is also a Poly Pop wonderland, as well as the first and (save for his newest book 'Tiki Modern') last word on the subject!
Somehow, through a combination of an archaeologist's instinct, a historian's dedication to detail, and a reporter's zeal, Sven managed to catch tropical lightning in a bottle. Or, rather, between the covers of a book! And, in the process, he single-handedly re-ignited the tiki-torch of Polynesian Pop culture in the U.S. and around the globe -- a torch which continues to burn ever-brighter thanks to Sven's seminal work.
Now out-of-print but still possible to find, anyone with even a vague interest in this topic owes it to themselves to snap up this rare tropical gem for their library. Who knows, it may even inspire them to create their own home tiki bar or lounge, as so many have now done (including yours truly)!
There's not much more I can add that has not already been more eloquently written about 'The Book Of Tiki', but I can at least reiterate that a lot of current tiki-themed bars and restaurants owe their existence to it -- heck, some tiki establishments are even WALL-PAPERED with PAGES from it!
So just thank the Tiki Gods -- and Mr. Kirsten -- for having given us devoted tikiphiles his 'Book Of Tiki' and the inspiration that continues to pour forth from it like lava from Kilauea!