by Hari Kunzru (Introduction), J. G. Ballard (Author)
A prophetic and experimental masterpiece by J. G. Ballard, the acclaimed author of `Crash' and `Super-Cannes'. This edition includes explanatory notes from the author.
The irrational, all-pervading violence of the modern world is the subject of this extraordinary tour de force.
The central character's dreams are haunted by images of John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe, dead astronauts and car-crash victims as he traverses the screaming wastes of nervous breakdown. Seeking his sanity, he casts himself in a number of roles: H-bomber pilot, presidential assassin, crash victim, psychopath. Finally, through the black, perverse magic of violence he transcends his psychic turmoil to find the key to a bizarre new sexuality.
In this revised edition, Ballard has added extensive annotation that help to unlock many of the mysteries of one of the most prophetic, enigmatic and original works of the late twentieth century.
This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard's works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Neil Gaiman, Iain Sinclair, James Lever and Ali Smith) and brand-new cover designs.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
Edition: Annotated edition
Publisher: Flamingo
Published: 21 May 2002
ISBN 10: 0007116861
ISBN 13: 9780007116867
Book Overview: First published in 1970 and widely regarded as a prophetic masterpiece, this is a groundbreaking experimental novel by the acclaimed author of Crash and Super-Cannes, who has supplied explanatory notes for this new edition. / This revised edition features a preface by William Burroughs and extensive annotations by the author, which unlock many of the mysteries of one of the most enigmatic and prophetic works of fiction of the late 20th century / First publication of the revised edition as a Perennial paperback. / Ballard's most experimental work, it also contains in distilled form many of the themes and obsessions that run through his later novels and, in particular, contains the germ of the controversial Crash
`The zenith of the experimental novel in English' Will Self
`Brilliant and unnerving ... Ballard is a writer with talent to burn' The Times
`These stories - condensed novels , Ballard has called them - are a high-water mark in English experimental fiction' New York Times
`A powerful book ... Phrase and image are constantly disturbing and stimulating' Sunday Telegraph
`The terrifying thing about Ballard is his logic; is this science fiction or history written ahead of its time?' Len Deighton
J. G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai. After internment in a civilian prison camp, his family returned to England in 1946. His 1984 bestseller `Empire of the Sun' won the Guardian Fiction Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. His controversial novel `Crash' was made into a film by David Cronenberg. His autobiography `Miracles of Life' was published in 2008, and a collection of interviews with the author, `Extreme Metaphors', was published in 2012. J. G. Ballard passed away in 2009.
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