Front cover of The Polyester Book of (Bad) Taste by Ione Gamble, hardback

The Polyester Book of (Bad) Taste - Ione Gamble

Ione Gamble

£18.99

Available to order

Not on our shelves today. We’ll order it in and post it out — with you in 2–3 working days.

  • Pages · 272 pages
  • Publication Date · 18/06/2026
  • Genre · Lifestyle & personal style guides
Collect in store Pick it up free from the shop in Oxford's Covered Market, usually quicker than the post.
Delivery Standard tracked £1.99, free on orders over £20. Express tracked £2.99.
Book Lovers' Happy Hour Three cocktails matched to your taste, three books chosen for you, an hour and a half at the bar. £60 per person. Book a place →

`Expertly crafted' AMELIA DIMOLDENBERG `A beautiful siren song to anyone who has ever felt ashamed of their own taste' SCARLETT CURTIS
'An ode to both fearless critique and visceral fandom' BILLIE JD PORTER A deep dive into the joy and power of personal pleasures, quirks, obsessions and bad taste, from zine royalty, Ione Gamble. Most of us consider taste to be a primal instinct. We like the things we like and everything we choose to consume, covet or loathe in our day-to-day lives is dictated by this unknowable force . But at some point, we learn to not fully trust our own taste. We accept that there are people who have better taste than us, so we stop following the flutter of our hearts and attempt to finetune our brain to fall in line with what others consider to be 'good'. The Polyester Book of (Bad) Taste is an antidote to this ever-creeping homogeneity and bland tastefulness. Edited and introduced by Polyester editor-in-chief, Ione Gamble, this book gathers influential writers from the pages of Polyester to take on the monumental task of defining taste for a generation battling algorithmic content suggestions and ever shortening trend cycles. It is a bible on how to navigate our own likes, dislikes, apathies and adorations. In a world constantly vying for our attention, having faith in your own (bad) taste is more than a small subversion - it's a rallying cry to live our lives unapologetically. CONTRIBUTERS: Ione Gamble, Rene Matic, Lauren O'Neill, Catherine Cohen, Seth Bogart, Zarina Muhammad, Tavi Gevinson, Gina Tonic, Misha MN, Katy Cutbirth, Yomi Adegoke, Angela Hui, Sabrina Brier, Kieran Yates, Annie Lord, Nicola Dinan and Ramisha Sattar.

Only at Gulp Fiction

Book Lovers' Happy Hour

An hour and a half at the bar, with three cocktails matched to your taste and three books chosen for you. Tell us what you like when you book, and we'll have them waiting when you arrive.

  • 1½ hours
  • £60 per person
  • 3 cocktails, 3 books
Book Happy Hour

Up to four of you can come — book a place each and choose the same time slot, then tell us who you're with. For larger groups, email gulpfictionbooks@gmail.com and we'll arrange it.

Three customers at the window table in Gulp Fiction, cocktails in hand beside a stack of books, with Oxford's Covered Market visible through the glass

Collect in store

Order online and pick it up from the shop. It's free, and usually quicker than the post.

Find us

Units 28–29, Covered Market, Oxford OX1 3DU. Mon–Wed 10–5, Thu–Sat 10–10, Sun 11–4.

Book a table

The bar is open late Thursday to Saturday. Reserve a table for a drink among the books.