Jonathan Hammer

HHmmm... When I found this new in a Half-Price Books in Dallas for something like a dollar it struck me as a great find. Why was it so cheap?! Usually such cheapness seems to translate into something like: 'unsaleability due to complexity &/or obscurity &/or intelligence'. SO, is that the case here? Dunno. For me, the selling point is that the bk centers around a lengthy text by Hugo Ball, well-known dadaist. I've never heard of the co-creator of this particular bk: Jonathan Hammer.

IF the bk had simply been a translation of Ball's original, it wd've gotten a 4 star rating, IF the bk had included as Hammer's only contribution his excellent essay at the end, it might've gotten a 5 star rating. The essay is fascinating & esoteric & scholarly & rich. ALAS, it also includes Hammer's illustrations wch I.. well, one might say, DETEST. That's really too strong but, despite the illustrations' purportedly transgressive nature, I found them bland & trite to an extreme. B/c of them, I almost gave this bk a 3 star rating.. - but, no, the essay's too damned good.… (més)