I picked up the book in order to complete an assignment for a class but with less than 150 actual pages I found it a fast, informative and enlightening read. "Be Seated" is a fun and easy romp around the world through a basic history of chairs. Simple and straightforward it is an accessible primer for anyone looking to get a glimpse of decorative history through a single object. ( )

“Be Seated: A Book About Chairs” by James Cross Giblin is a specialty book dedicated to the history and design of chairs. In the beginning the author emphasizes how certain cultures, such as traditional Japanese and nomadic Arabs do not use chairs at home. The Japanese have many earthquakes and found furniture to be cumbersome. The Arabic Nomads lived in tents and found it impractical to carry furniture and therefore did not use chairs. Other civilizations such as the Egyptians lacked lumber in the Nile Delta, and for this reason stools were widely used instead of chairs. In fact, according to the author, chairs with arms probably first became popular as kings used them to furnish their thrones. The author quotes from the Bible’s Old Testament to describe King Solomon’s basic design of a chair which included arms on each side. The author also credits the Greeks for creating more comfortable chairs; they created a chair called klismos, which were especially designed for women. It was here that the backs of chairs were first curved to provide a design that supported the back and shoulders. He elaborates on how societies developed chairs to meet the needs of each civilization, and how the chairs produced reflected the different social classes. He points out how factors such as wealth, lumber, and culture impacted the architectural construction of chairs.
The author includes a great deal of detailed information such as the chronological development of the chair throughout history in different parts of the world. He describes different varieties of chairs and analyses each part of the chair and the techniques used to build chairs. I found the illustrations to be very helpful and the more I read about chairs the more interested I became on the subject. I would recommend this book to students interested in a researching art history.
Ages 5 and up ( )