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Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister, The | 
 enlarge | Author: Chris Nichols
Publisher: Gibbs Smith, Publisher
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $6.76
You Save: $13.19 (66%)
New (28) Used (10) from $6.76
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 283989
Media: Perfect Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 9 x 0.8
ISBN: 1586856995
Dewey Decimal Number: 720.92
EAN: 9781586856991
ASIN: 1586856995
Publication Date: March 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New & Unread Book that not Have Remainder Mark/ May Have Slight Handling Wear From Bookstore Shelf
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Product Description
The work of late commercial architect Wayne McAllister (1907-2000) is responsible for much of the character of Southern California today. His Fred-and-Ginger nightclubs and glinting-steel-and-blazing-neon circular drive-ins brought Hollywood to life. His Sands Hotel in Las Vegas became the home of the Rat Pack; the mythology of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. owes a great deal to the swank glamour of the Copa Room and the Sands Hotel, one of McAllister's finest.
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| Customer Reviews:
Great Book, Superb Pictures! April 22, 2008
If you love the architecture of post-war America, then this is the book for you. I am a huge fan of Wayne McAllister's work and this book gives you the lens with which to view the progression of his buildings which began early on and literally exploded in the 1950's.
We all remember restaurants and hotels and some homes with this man's 'signature' all over them: rock exteriors, large sheets of glass, inset lighting, and brick planters. Some decry this look as cheap and tasteless. But in reality it wed form and function with a certain aesthetic quality that will never be duplicated.
Today, everything from buildings to cars all look alike. That 'certain something' is missing. Still, it is great to look back to a time when restaurants, hotels, motels, and cars looked cool. This book is a walk down memory lane and I return to it often. Well done, Chris Nichols!
THE LEISURE WRITTING OF CHRIS NICHOLS November 15, 2007
This book was a delight to read. The illustrations are beautifull and informative. The research that has been put into this book is of great value. This book is of great lasting value for Baja California history as well as California and Nevada.
Cool Book about Postwar architecture November 12, 2007
If you are into architecture books, books about Vegas, 1950s car culture, or anything retro, this book will be one you enjoy. I really like it as a coffee table book, because it has great pictures, but it is also a great read and seems well researched.
Well researched and thorough August 30, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Nichols presents an interesting look at many of the historic landmarks of Los Angeles and Las Vegas, painting the picture of times since forgotten. Being in my 20s, many of the landmarks I knew in name only, although I have seen and been to some, but in both cases, Nichols' book manages to evoke feelings of nostalgia and longing. The book is obviously painstakingly researched, and the sheer number of rare and hard-to-find photographs are enough to make any architecture or food history buff go ga-ga.
 bittersweet tinge May 15, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Nichols gives a nostalgic retrospective on the long live and prodigious output of Wayne McAllister. In no small part, the book walks the reader back through the last 60 years of urban commercial architecture in the southern California region. McAllister lived a very long time, and he was responsible for designing iconic landmarks that at least in the hazy afterglow of memory, epitomise a classic time.
The book is replete with many photos and illustrations, the cover being an example of the latter. The most common image, if not exactly the most enduring, is Bob's Big Boy. I remember in the early 80s, when I arrived in Los Angeles, how these fast food restaurants and their mascots were everywhere. Even getting a cameo role in Terminator. Alas, as the years wore on, the Bob's Big Boys got steadily deprecated. Not many left.
Another type of McAllister's work has also fallen into the tar pits of history. He designed many of the drive-ins that dotted Los Angeles. And which were an indelible part of many teenagers' experiences. Sadly, most are long gone, brought down by the VCR and its successors. At least in the book, you can see several as they once were, at the peak of their glory. Actually, no matter how pretty the architecture, the sound was often bad, the food dreadful, the movies second rate and the nearby cars often had loudmouths.
Great book. But for some readers old enough, there is a certain bittersweet tinge to all this.
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