Karen Zukowski

For as much as I had been looking forward to reading this, I couldn't wait to give it away when I was done. Another interesting concept poorly executed.

Zukowski is an interior designer who has decided that her uber-eclectic (and markedly unattractive) residence would make a great stepping stone to the narrative history of the Aesthetic Movement. While she was wholly mistaken in the first thought, her detailed analysis of the aesthetic movement was compelling and became the only memorable part of the book. With some serious editing - along with the complete removal of all references to her own design efforts and the correlations to current design trends - this could be reissued as a serious (but very readable) reference tool to understanding a very interesting era in design. As it stands now it is a glorified "Time Life Series" type book written by an above average historian/below average designer (no offense, Ms. Zukowski)… (meer)