Many people had not appreciated the work of Morris Lapidus - until now. In the late 1980s, European students started to recognize his work, and now the excitement has spread to America. This autobiography from 1979 is very well-written and easy to read. Mr. Lapidus explains many of his early childhood experiences and how they later came to play an important role in his architecture. He tells how his first encounters with light and color would influence his designs over and over again, as well as how his designs changed over the years, and how he was panned by fellow architects and critics. He retired bitterly in the 1980s, but now, well into his 90s, with the resurgence of interest in him and his work, he has come out of retirement (as much as one in his 90s can!) and is contributing new designs to the local Miami Beach area, where he now resides

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.