Meaning of coffee table book | Babel Free

Definitions

A large book, usually with lavish illustrations, typically displayed on a coffee table.

Equivalents

Examples

“Nonbooks are of several kinds; but their differences notwithstanding, they all share⟳ two common features: they tend⟳ to be written for market rather than for intellectual reasons, and they are all means rather than ends. [...] Of all nonbooks, the most conspicuous example is the ‘coffee-table book’. The latter usually find⟳ their market by virtue of their decorative assets rather than from any literary or intellectual merit, or for that matter⟳ – since such works are often art books – by significantly serving important aesthetic or historical purposes.”

“The Family Book of Black America (Crown, $20), a photographic coffee table book, by Michael H. Cottman and Deborah Willis.”

“I am leery of coffee table books. They are often pretty but have⟳ little substance once you get⟳ under the surface.”

“Mukulika Banerjee and Daniel Miller serenade the garment [the sari] in their remarkable coffee-table book The Sari. [...] Photographs build⟳ the warp and weft of coffee-table books. Words seldom rule⟳ and even if written by well-known writers, they have⟳ to take⟳ second place⟳ to the camera's five-colour dominance.”

CEFR level