Hugo Ball--poet, philosopher, novelist, cabaret performer, journalist, mystic--was a man extremely sensitive to the currents of his time and carried in their wake. In February 1916 he founded the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. The sound poems and performance art by Ball and the other artists who gathered there were the beginnings of Dada. Ball's extraordinary diaries, one of the most significant products of the Dada movement, are here available in English in paperback for the first time, along with the original Dada manifesto and John Elderfield's critical introduction, revised and updated for the paperback edition, and a supplementary bibliography of Dada texts that have appeared since the 1974 hardcover edition of this book.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Zur Kritik Der Deutschen Intelligenz Hugo Ball Der Freie verlag, 1919 Germany; National characteristics, German

A"Zurich war damals eine kleine Weltstadt, wahrend es heute wieder zu einer mittleren Provinzstadt herabgesunken ist. Es war der Sammelpunkt aller Menschen, die der Krieg uber die Grenzen ihrer Vaterlander geworfen hatte. Ein Brennpunkt kritischer Energien, ein Zentrum revolutionarer Temperamente. Wer Zurich erreichte, hatte sich aus dem Blut-Ozean, wenn auch nur fur kurze Zeit gerettet. Hier war eine Urlaub-von-dem-Tode-Stimmung, eine Ausgelassenheit, die sich mit Melancholie verband.A"

Hugo Ball (1886-1927) war einer der Grunder des legendaren A"Cabaret VoltaireA", das als Wiege des Dadaismus gilt. Der expressionistische Grundgestus beherrschte schon sein Erstlingswerk, die Tragikomodie Die Nase des Michelangelo, die erstmals 1911 bei Rowohlt in Leipzig erschien.

Bereits in den Jahren 1914 bis 1920 entstand Hugo Balls Text Tenderenda der Phantast. Eine Gattungsbezeichnung ist nicht ganz einfach zu finden, denn mit einem Roman im herkommlichen Sinn - Hugo Ball selbst hatte ursprunglich "Roman" als Gattungsbezeichnung vorgeschlagen - haben die 15 Episoden des Tenderenda nur wenig gemein. Die Kapitel, denen jeweils zeitlich-raumliche Vorbemerkungen, pointierten Regieanweisungen gleich, vorangestellt sind, tragen demnach auch so poetische und enigmatische Uberschriften wie: Der Aufstieg des Sehers, Grand Hotel Metaphysik oder Bulbos Gebet und der Gebratene Dichter. Die realzeitlichen und die autobiographischen Einschreibungen verleihen dem Text jedoch eine Chronologie und damit auch eine Art Koharenz.

Flametti oder Vom Dandysmus der Armen Roman Hugo Ball

In 1916, Hugo Ball (1886-1927) cofounded the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich and penned the "Dada Manifesto," launching what would become the Zurich Dada movement. That same year he completed his semi-autobiographical novel, "Flametti, or The Dandyism of the Poor," which would be published two years later. Drawing from his pre-Dada period of struggle and poverty in the vaudeville circuit, Ball immerses us in the rise and fall of Max Flametti and his vaudeville company. Fishing in the local river to feed his company, dabbling in drugs, strolling through the vegetable market on the Gemusebrucke in Zurich, ducking into a side street to avoid running into the police, Flametti marches through the pages of Ball's novel passionately pursuing a career that culminates in the presentation of the theatrical extravaganza "The Indians" at the Krokodil in Zurich (a locale that still exists today as a Spanish restaurant). Overcoming odds and alternately averting, succumbing to and embracing financial ruin, Flametti ultimately emerges as a tragic figure--a Willy Loman of vaudeville. "Flametti" portrays a frenetic Zurich that had been the backdrop to the Dada movement, and is comparable to other such literary cities and eras as Christopher Isherwood's Berlin.