Pad Parties: The Guide to Ultra-Entertaining

Rating:
Summary: padded style
Review: an ultimately groovy book about really cool ways to spruce up a party or an entire place. The design of the book is cool with great layouts and stylish colors. While the price is a bit steep, this makes for a great gift or coffee table accessory.

Party on!

Rating:
Summary: Your Life is Waiting.
Review: Are you looking to give your social gatherings a little bit more funk? Wouldn't you like cultivate a reputation as an interesting, unique, and gracious host? Let PAD Parties be your guide!

Seriously, since I got this book, I've had to wrangle it out of people's hands. Anyone who visits takes an instant fancy to it. But the truth is, it's best to keep this little guidebook all to yourself. No need to give away your party secrets!

I looked for this book after reading PAD, and it's the perfect follow-up. This volume includes plenty of unexpected additions -- the recipes rock, and you won't find them anywhere else. The craft ideas are on par with Maranian's most inspiring from PAD, and as before, the pictures are mesmerizing and the writing can't be beat. And after all, god, who wouldn't want a light-up punch bowl? (Aside from that, I was pretty amazed at what can be done with a candle & a couple of goldfish. It's actually much less torturous than it sounds: you'd just have to see the Goldfish Globule Candlelight Lantern to know what it's all about.)

PAD guides its reader through decoration; PAD Parties shows the reader what to do once the place is decorated. It's different from PAD in that it assumes you've already established your residence, so the book begins immediately with party preparations. It's a comprehensive guide, instructing its reader on everything from food to gift ideas to tending bar to manners (and these are still much more important than one might think!). PAD Parties is an inspirational guide for the experienced host and the novice alike -- there's something here for everyone.

If you liked the charm and sophistication of PAD, it's all here. This is the grown-up edition of PAD part one. Use these ideas, and your party can't go wrong. Your life is just waiting to begin!

Rating:
Summary: Your Life is Waiting.
Review: Are you looking to give your social gatherings a little bit more funk? Wouldn't you like cultivate a reputation as an interesting, unique, and gracious host? Let PAD Parties be your guide!

Seriously, since I got this book, I've had to wrangle it out of people's hands. Anyone who visits takes an instant fancy to it. But the truth is, it's best to keep this little guidebook all to yourself. No need to give away your party secrets!

I looked for this book after reading PAD, and it's the perfect follow-up. This volume includes plenty of unexpected additions -- the recipes rock, and you won't find them anywhere else. The craft ideas are on par with Maranian's most inspiring from PAD, and as before, the pictures are mesmerizing and the writing can't be beat. And after all, god, who wouldn't want a light-up punch bowl? (Aside from that, I was pretty amazed at what can be done with a candle & a couple of goldfish. It's actually much less torturous than it sounds: you'd just have to see the Goldfish Globule Candlelight Lantern to know what it's all about.)

PAD guides its reader through decoration; PAD Parties shows the reader what to do once the place is decorated. It's different from PAD in that it assumes you've already established your residence, so the book begins immediately with party preparations. It's a comprehensive guide, instructing its reader on everything from food to gift ideas to tending bar to manners (and these are still much more important than one might think!). PAD Parties is an inspirational guide for the experienced host and the novice alike -- there's something here for everyone.

If you liked the charm and sophistication of PAD, it's all here. This is the grown-up edition of PAD part one. Use these ideas, and your party can't go wrong. Your life is just waiting to begin!

Rating:
Summary: Disapointing
Review: I loved Pad, I mean LOVED Pad - the crazy interiors, the cool design projects you could do yourself, and on the most basic level the ideas and inspiration on every page. So naturally I was thrilled to find a sequel - but sadly this follow up is pretty disapointing.

For starters it's more cookbook than an interior design book, and although there is inspiration to be found many of the projects are not things you are likely to try and do yourself. I very much miss the aspect of seeing into other people's homes (that was such a wonderful feature of Pad). But most of all I was quite annoyed about a Fish lamp project which is this cruel construction that involves a glass bowl, a candle and some live gold fish as a hanging lamp. Potentially boiled gold fish trapped in a tiny swimming space seems to me as very unpleasant and cruel, it's quite disturbing to think someone might make this.

Should you buy it? It's up to you but you could do better than Pad Parties.

Rating:
Summary: Pad Parties = Practically Perfect
Review: I loved the original PAD, as do many others, and i eagerly awaited a second offering from its illustrious author. This book doesn't disappoint, providing an array of funky crafts, unusual recipes and helpful hints to help you throw a number of surely unforgettable parties.

I do wish that the original idea of PAD -- that is, peeking into people's funky homes -- was worked into this book a bit more. You do get to see little snippets of some homes in the backgrounds of the gorgeous splashy photographs, but it's not quite the same. I hope Mr. Maranian will consider that for future publications.

Rating:
Summary: Fun & useful, but not as compelling as PAD
Review: This well-designed guide to the PAD retro/sleazo, classy/trashy entertaining aesthetic is loaded with tips, recipes, projects, lovely photos, and Maranian's distinctive wit, but it lacks the component of voyeurism that made the first PAD so special. My favorite sections in the first book, the pages I keep going back to, are the PAD Profiles of fabulously creative people in their weird and wonderful homes. Regardless of whether I truly dug their style or not, it was an inspiring kick to read (and see) about their lives and how they achieved their decorating effects, and it was another kick to later recognize their names mentioned in the context of their beyond-PAD professions. It would have been great to see photos of PAD Parties in progress, and to have PAD hosts give descriptions of parties they've thrown. Of course, it may have been difficult to achieve such photos without having them appear to be staged for the purpose of the book--but at least it would have allowed us more glimpses into super-cool homes and lives.