Too Much Is Never Enough

Rating:
Summary: Standing on Eden Roc
Review: I enjoyed this frank autobiography of an interior designer and architect who gave people what they thought a glamorous resort should look like instead of what the architectural establishment dictated. Lapidus recounts his experiences as an immigrant child in New York through to his grudging acceptance as a the leader of a new architectural style. I particularly liked his acknowledgment that his career was full of sudden and random opportunities that he fully seized. I also enjoyed a story from his early days when he took joking at his expense by senior management and used it to open a new opportunity.

Lapidus is not Howard Roark, the icy Rand architect hero. He gave is clients what they wanted or, more accurately, gave his clients what he thought people would want.

The photographs are OK. They are enough to illustrate a visual artists autobiography. A photographic fine art book of Lapidus' work would be a nice adjunct to this book, though.