{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1423666038?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"1423666038","authors":["Sven Kirsten","Peter Moruzzi"],"book_id":"9781423666035","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/palm-springs-tiki-9781423666035","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781423666035.jpg?v=296d78e83383a359","description":"Palm Springs Tiki presents a visual exploration of a mid-century tropical paradise in the California desert. From the 1930s through the 1970s, Palm Springs and other desert communities embraced the mid-century fantasy of a home-grown Polynesian paradise. The concept of the oasis and that of the tropical island shared the qualities of exotic escapism for the urban dweller, these would-be islanders under the desert sun. Sprouting from the arid desert were Polynesian restaurants, bars, nightclubs and lounges, hotels, motels, apartments, and trailer parks decorated with Tikis. Celebrities frequented Palm Springs’ Don the Beachcomber, the El Mirador’s South Pacific Room, the Bamboo Room at the Racquet Club, and Aloha Jhoe’s. Average Americans vacationed at the city’s Tropics Motor Lodge with its Reef Bar and the Tiki Spa; and resided at the Aloha Palms and Kauai apartments and condominiums such as the Royal Hawaiian. In Rancho Mirage, the “Fly In / Drive In” Desert Air Hotel hosted luaus attracting over a thousand people, and at Bing Crosby’s Blue Skies Village was parked a trailer disguised as a Polynesian hut surrounded by Tikis. Palm Desert, the Salton Sea, Desert Hot Springs, and far-flung desert outposts all had their own tropical hideaways. Through myriad captivating objects, historic photographs, vintage postcards, colorful architectural renderings, and other ephemera, Sven Kirsten’s and Peter Moruzzi’s Palm Springs Tiki shows readers the many imaginative concepts that proprietors developed in creating a tropical paradise in the California desert. This book is a brightly colored gem full of historical information for both lovers of Tiki and mid-century Palm Springs.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781423666035","publication_date":"20241022","publisher":"Gibbs Smith","slug":"palm-springs-tiki","subtitle":"Polynesia in the Desert","title":"Palm Springs Tiki"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"ARC024010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Landmarks & Monuments","score":0.6927,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PHO023090","confidence_band":"low","label":"Lifestyle Photography","score":0.6775,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"NAT045010","confidence_band":"low","label":"Desert Life","score":0.6748,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"ARC024010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Landmarks & Monuments","score":0.6927,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PHO023090","confidence_band":"low","label":"Lifestyle Photography","score":0.6775,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"NAT045010","confidence_band":"low","label":"Desert Life","score":0.6748,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"ARC024010","confidence_band":"high","label":"Landmarks & Monuments","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036060","confidence_band":"high","label":"20th-Century America","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"TRV019000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Travel Photography","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Landmarks & Monuments","score":0.6927,"slug":"landmarks-monuments"},{"label":"Lifestyle Photography","score":0.6775,"slug":"lifestyle-photography"},{"label":"Desert Life","score":0.6748,"slug":"desert-life"}],"reader_fit":["For readers interested in Tiki and mid-century Palm Springs."],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Tim Street-Porter"],"book_id":"9780847861873","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780847861873.jpg?v=a46dad9a20b3c558","score":0.7709,"title":"Palm Springs","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780847861873"},{"authors":["Heidi Creighton","Chris Menrad"],"book_id":"9781423642329","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781423642329.jpg?v=e1cba45f6679024b","score":0.6781,"title":"William Krisel's Palm Springs","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781423642329"},{"authors":["iO Tillett Wright"],"book_id":"9780525575153","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780525575153.jpg?v=e7f8f576a572ba43","score":0.6637,"title":"Oasis","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780525575153"},{"authors":["Susanna Moore"],"book_id":"9780374298777","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780374298777.jpg?v=908bc1d47d4f905c","score":0.6437,"title":"Paradise of the Pacific","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780374298777"},{"authors":["Ken Layne"],"book_id":"9781250800350","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250800350.jpg?v=12c93c03ce13d5d3","score":0.6415,"title":"Desert Oracle","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250800350"},{"authors":["Isabella Ginanneschi"],"book_id":"9780789215031","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780789215031.jpg?v=4a6f124ab021a377","score":0.6326,"title":"Bali: Sustainable Visions","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780789215031"},{"authors":["Daniel Nolan"],"book_id":"9780847861262","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780847861262.jpg?v=1c00d331fa0fee0b","score":0.6146,"title":"Dry Gardens","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780847861262"},{"authors":["Gary Monroe"],"book_id":"9780813032207","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780813032207.jpg?v=7402af4ccfd4a53a","score":0.5994,"title":"Silver Springs","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780813032207"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:palm springs history book"],"label":"History","score":0.4536,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:tiki culture"],"label":"Culture","score":0.0449,"slug":"culture"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:midcentury design"],"label":"Design","score":0.0287,"slug":"design"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Mid-century Tiki culture, Polynesian-inspired desert escapism.","Themes: History, Culture, Design.","Reading lane: Landmarks & Monuments and Lifestyle Photography."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.94,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["For readers interested in Tiki and mid-century Palm Springs."],"themes":["Mid-century Tiki culture","Polynesian-inspired desert escapism"],"tropes":[]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":110,"goodreads_ratings_count":27,"goodreads_reviews_count":6,"quality_score":0.8634}}