Couldn't resist picking up this one from the free exchange shelf in our hospital's medical library. Description from Amazon:

America's premiere scholars of popular culture present a hilarious tribute to the all-time highs of lowbrow taste. The Sterns offer the definitive sourcebook of the world's favorite cultural extremes and faux pas. 350 photos, 50 in full-color.

What a fun collection! Clearly I live in a world of bad taste because most of this was familiar to me. Although, I'm not sure that the Encyclopedia of Bad Taste is the best title for this book. Many of the items were very fashionable to start with, but then they caught on with the masses and were not cool for the rich anymore. It is really just a great peek into pop culture of the 20th Century. I was born in 1965 and got married in 1987, so this book that was published in 1990 was right in my wheelhouse - I remember many of the items very fondly!

I will say there is some nudity in the book, which I did not expect, so beware for the younguns. Primarily it is boobs (most notably those of Chesty Morgan). There is one photo of a couple of nudists but either the man's privates have been hidden or there is just too much hair!

Overall, the book is great. I think it would be good to see an update of it. For instance, tattoos are shown as being in bad taste and for the fringes of society, but nowadays everyone has a tattoo!