An Anecdoted Topography of Chance (Re-Anecdoted Version)

by Emmett Williams, Daniel Spoerri, Robert Filliou, et al.

Book Overview

Arguably the most important and entertaining "artist's book" of the post-war period, "An Anecdoted Topography of Chance" here appears in its definitive edition to date. A unique collaborative work by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B004BMESMY
• Release Date: January 1966
• Publisher: Something Else Press
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Why has no one reviewed this?

This is a supremely lovely book, an accumulation of comments made over time, space, and multiple languages. Here is roughly what happens. Daniel Spoerri had a very messy table. He wrote down the name of everything that was on his table and described it anecdotally. His friend Robert Filliou added some comments which he added as footnotes. Emmett Williams translated the book into English and added his own anecdotes; Dieter Roth translated it into German and added more. Roland Topor added illustrations at some point, and I think there are a couple of footnotes by Alastair Brotchie, the editor of this edition, the Atlas Press edition of 1996 (not sure why it lists Serpent's Tail as the publisher here). I believe there are more recent German and Italian versions which, presumably, add more comments. This sounds like a mess, and it is a mess, but it provides an unmatchable portrait of the lives of a number of important figures in the European avant-garde from the early 1960s.