[.ca] Ball and Hammer: Hugo Ball's Tenderenda the Fantast (ISBN 0300083734)

Brilliantly Odd:
Ball and Hammer is a like a six-hand piano piece. Seated at the bench are the long deceased founder of Zurich Dada, Hugo Ball; the contemporary artist, Jonathan Hammer; and the well-regarded critic-scholar, Jeffrey Shnapp. The piece they play is built around Ball's visionary novella-memoir, Tenderenda the Fantast, which is a bit like trying to build a temple around a hallucination. Hammer and Schnapp brilliantly riff in and around Ball's memoir: the former with his zany illustrations, a provocative essay and his translation of Ball; the latter with a razor sharp-edged introduction and an array of learned notes. The mix works. It's hard to tell where one takes over and the other leaves off. This is no conventional university press book from the standpoint of production values. It's graphically dazzling, has twenty-plus splendid color illustrations, and is at least as much fun as a ride on one of those Twister roller coasters. I recommend it highly for yourself or for that distinctive gift to an eccentric friend or loved one who loves Dada. It makes nice in your brain and looks just as nice on your coffee table.