A
coffee table book is a
hardcoverA hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
bookA book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
that is intended to sit on a
coffee tableA coffee table, also called a cocktail table, is a style of long, low table which is designed to be placed in front of a sofa, to support beverages , magazines, feet, books , and other small items to be used while sitting, such as coasters. Coffee tables are usually found in the living room or...
or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained, thus inspiring conversation or alleviating boredom. They tend to be oversized and of heavy construction, since there is no pressing need for portability. Subject matter is generally confined to
non-fictionNonfiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact. This presentation may be accurate or not; that is, it can give either a true or a false account of the subject in question. However, it is generally assumed that the authors of such accounts believe them to be...
, and is usually visually-oriented. Pages consist mainly of photographs and illustrations, accompanied by captions and small blocks of text, as opposed to long prose.
A
coffee table book is a
hardcoverA hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
bookA book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
that is intended to sit on a
coffee tableA coffee table, also called a cocktail table, is a style of long, low table which is designed to be placed in front of a sofa, to support beverages , magazines, feet, books , and other small items to be used while sitting, such as coasters. Coffee tables are usually found in the living room or...
or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained, thus inspiring conversation or alleviating boredom. They tend to be oversized and of heavy construction, since there is no pressing need for portability. Subject matter is generally confined to
non-fictionNonfiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact. This presentation may be accurate or not; that is, it can give either a true or a false account of the subject in question. However, it is generally assumed that the authors of such accounts believe them to be...
, and is usually visually-oriented. Pages consist mainly of photographs and illustrations, accompanied by captions and small blocks of text, as opposed to long prose. Since they are aimed at anyone who might pick the book up for a light read, the analysis inside is often more basic and with less
jargonJargon is terminology which is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, or group. In other words, the term most often covers the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest...
than other books on the subject. Because of this, the term "coffee table book" can be used pejoratively to indicate a superficial approach to the subject.
History
David R. BrowerDavid Ross Brower was a prominent environmentalist and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club Foundation, the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, Friends of the Earth , the League of Conservation Voters, Earth Island Institute , North Cascades...
is sometimes credited with inventing the "modern coffee table book". While serving as executive director of the
Sierra ClubThe Sierra Club is the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892 in San Francisco, California by the well-known conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
, he had the idea for a series of books that combined nature photography and writings on nature, with, as he put it, "a page size big enough to carry a given image’s dynamic. The eye must be required to move about within the boundaries of the image, not encompass it all in one glance." The first such book, "This is the American Earth", with photographs by
Ansel AdamsAnsel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West and primarily Yosemite National Park....
and others and text by
Nancy NewhallNancy Wynne Newhall was an American photography critic. She is best known for writing the text to accompany photographs by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, but was also a widely published writer on photography, conservation, and American culture.Newhall was born Nancy Wynne in Lynn, Massachusetts,...
, was published in 1960; the series became known as the "Exhibit Format" series, with 20 titles eventually published.
In popular culture
Coffee table books have been featured in many areas of popular culture. In the 1980s, British comedy duo
SmithMel Smith is an English comedian, actor, film director, writer and producer.- Biography :Smith's father Kenneth was born in Tow Law, County Durham, and worked at a coal mine in the Second World War looking after the pit ponies...
and
JonesGriffith Rhys Jones , better known as Griff Rhys Jones, is a Welsh comedian, writer and actor. He came to national attention in the 1980s when he starred with Mel Smith in a number of comedy sketch programmes on British television....
released
The lavishly-tooled Smith and Jones Coffee Table Book — its cover was designed to look as if the book could double as a coffee table. The fifth season (1993–1994) of the
sitcomA situation comedy, usually referred to as a sitcom, is a genre of comedy programs which originated in radio. Today, sitcoms are found almost exclusively on television as one of its dominant narrative forms...
SeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. The eponymous series was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, with the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
included a
story arcA story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
involving
KramerCosmo Kramer, referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
wanting to write a coffee table book about coffee tables. His idea was for the coffee table book to have legs built into the back cover and coasters built into the front cover, so the book itself could be turned into a coffee table.
In the 1987 comedy
Throw Momma from the TrainThrow Momma from the Train is a comedy film released in 1987. The movie was inspired by the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Strangers on a Train, which also plays a role in the film...
, one of the characters is writing a coffee table book called "
One hundred girls I'd like to fuck".