Lucky Hans and Other Merz Fairy Tales
Kurt Schwitters
Translated and introduced by Jack Zipes
Illustrated by Irvine Peacock

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ADDITIONAL ENDORSEMENTS:

"This collection of Kurt Schwitters's little-known fairy tales reveals that he was a master of literary satire in addition to being one of Weimar Germany's most prominent artists. With its elegant translations, charmingly impudent illustrations, and lively introduction, this book will earn a steady readership."--Maria Tatar, editor of The Classic Fairy Tales

"This is a very enjoyable collection of subversively humorous stories, and I found myself laughing out loud while reading them. The fairy tale served as apt material for Kurt Schwitters to play with conventions, produce nonsense within well-known plots, or wreak havoc in everyday routines, all in order to critique bourgeois values, religion, nationalism, and Nazism, and to open up the imaginations of children and adults to his artistic worldview."--Cristina Bacchilega, author of Postmodern Fairy Tales

"Schwitters's fairy tales are especially interesting because they document the vitality of experimentation in the genre that occurred in Germany in the first half of the twentieth century. While Grimms' tales were increasingly co-opted by nationalists and fascists, writers such as Schwitters sought to rewrite the genre as a form of sociopolitical resistance and cultural reformation. Translated, edited, and introduced by Jack Zipes, the world's leading expert on the fairy tale, this volume has a special value."--Donald Haase, editor of Marvels and Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies

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File created: 11/5/2009

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