11 Essential Coffee Table Books

LSD, The Stones and California skate culture

By The Editors
December 19, 2014 9:00 am

Consider the coffee table book:

It doesn’t exist to be read.

It exists to be seen.

To showcase your interests to guests.

To nudge even the most taciturn visitor into a gabber.

And because of all this, they make for perfect gifts.

So, given the season, we’re recommending three new coffee table books, below, plus eight others in our Coffee Table Book Guide. Enjoy. Happy gifting.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones

Taschen just opened a new store on Beverly and, with that opening, they’re releasing Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones. Inside this 500-page collection are rare images from photographers like David Bailey and Peter Beard, plus an essay by President Bill Clinton. It’s just a shop away.

The Family Acid

Kate Steffens, daughter to gonzo counter-culture photog Roger Steffens, recently began putting his slide photography up on an Instagram feed called The Family Acid. The gist: it’s trippy, evocative stuff that takes you back to a simpler, more bell-bottomed time. Now all those pics are available in a book, and that book’s available for preorder.

Sounds of Two Eyes Opening

Music producer Spot (Misfits, Black Flag) just put out Sounds of Two Eyes Opening, a collection of 200 black-and-whites and illustrations taken from the late ’60s through the early ’80s in Venice Beach — the grassroots era of punk and skateboarding. It’s a gritty look at a pivotal point in L.A. history.

Happy shopping.

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