Morris Lapidus, the famous mid-century architect, outraged the architectural profession and riled critics with an architecture that was popularly embraced. His Miami Beach resort hotels - the Fontainebleau, the Eden Roc, and the Bal Harbour Sheraton - are synonymous with the glamour of Miami Beach in the 50s. Lapidus hotels are infamous as the stomping grounds of the Rat Pack and their fellow movie stars. Yet, during his life he was never published in architectural magazines and was discredited by the architectural profession - before undergoing a renaissance as a prophet of postmodernism. This book establishes the importance of his work and offers private insights into a man who once said why be exotic in private? .