• 232 pages 
• 27.5cm x 21cm 
• Published in Amsterdam, 2018 

Zooming in on one mundane yet infinitely enigmatic object, each issue of MacGuffin combines scrupulous research with design geekery to present a thick volume of illuminating, satisfying reading.

Issue six offers readers a deep dive into the history of the ball. That’s probably not the sort of thing you thought you’d be reading about, but MacGuffin’s talent for exploring “the life of things” reveals that the ball’s had a pretty interesting time. Who knew?

In this issue:

• The story of William ‘Fatty’ Foulkes, the goalkeeper who signed to Chelsea football club in 1905 and unwittingly helped to invent the modern ballboy
• The hardships endured by the inventor of the biro
• The effects induced by disco balls
• The ill-fated adventures of the ‘terranauts’ who spent two years living in Biosphere 2 in the early 90s

MacGuffin issue 7, The Ball, is also available in the Stack shop.