Books With Their Faces Turned To the Wall

Here is an absolutely horrifying decorator's "trick."  Books displayed with the spines turned in:

And:

This is so wrong, I don't even know where to begin. It's the book equivalent of Magritte's Le Reproduction Interdite, a painting that gives me the heebie jeebies and the screaming mimis every time I see it:

Book photos taken from this real estate blog, via Bookslut. Someone needs to start an Evil Decorators blog.

Comments

[Lou]

Don't those shelves look awful, well the shelves are nice just not what they have done on them . Why would you buy books and not display them in all their glory. Definite attack of the Evil Decorator!

[Perfectly Disgraceful]

But does it give you the howling fantods?

[victoria thorne]

Evil Decorators Blog. Best Idea Ever. Love the way you think, love it. These books are so sad...it is as though they've had dunce-caps put on and been thrust in the time-out chair...

[kate]

That is so wierd. I don't even understand why anyone would do that. And you're right, the other photo is creepy.

[Patricia]

Ugh. This kind of silliness really annoys me. Yes, it's nice to have some books on display in an attractive fashion, but books facing the wall? That's right up there with the wealthy folks who hire someone to fill up their library with all the 'right books'.

Oh, and I recall seeing a blog where a gal was very pleased with her decorative display of books – she had organized all by colour. The mind boggles.

Love Magritte's painting, but of course I'd never have a copy of that anywhere on display in my home. Heebie-jeebies is right!

[wesleyjeanne]

I saw that, too and was horrified. I also hate seeing those decorator tips of taking the jackets off the books for display. Do these people even read books? Clearly they do not love...LOVE...books. Ugh

[resetgo]

"Placing books vertically on shelves, spines facing outward, is a fairly recent invention, it would seem."
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Bookshelf-Henry-Petroski/dp/0375406492