This wonderfully tacky book begins with a quote from Donald Featherstone, the man who created pink plastic yard flamingos. In his words, "Before plastics, only rich people could afford to have poor taste." And poor taste is what this delightful book is all about, the result of writer Roberts' and photographer Modra's tour of the country looking for ticky-tacky lawn ornaments. They found that garden kitsch includes wooden cows and donkeys, metal roosters, plastic sunflowers, frogs, squirrels, deer, bunnies, swans, rubber cacti, old washing machines, toilets, sinks, and bathtubs with flowers growing out of them, a six-foot stuffed Ninja Turtle, the front end of a VW, gargoyles, gnomes, and, of course, those pink flamingos. The bulk of the 80 color pictures here were taken on a 10-day drive from Connecticut to Wisconsin; and about 50 people--owners of all this kitsch--were also photographed. Oh, come on, readers, let yourselves go. Enjoy yourself with this book!
George Cohen
Reader Reviews
I expected a lot more from this book than I got. I myself have seen much weirder lawns than are included in this book. It sometimes appears to be more of a comment on class-driven levels of taste than on personal weirdness and eccentricity, and I didn't like that. Interesting to browse, but not worth the price, in my opinion. For this type of book, "Weird Rooms" is much better.
Back To Top
