The American publication of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard is a landmark event. Increasingly recognized as one of the greatest and most prophetic novelists, J. G. Ballard was a writer of enormous inventive powers, who, in the words of Malcolm Bradbury, possessed, like Calvino, a remarkable gift for filling the empty deprived spaces of modern life with the invisible cities and the wonder worlds of imagination. Best known for his novels, such as Empire of the Sun and Crash, Ballard rose to fame as the ideal chronicler ...
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The American publication of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard is a landmark event. Increasingly recognized as one of the greatest and most prophetic novelists, J. G. Ballard was a writer of enormous inventive powers, who, in the words of Malcolm Bradbury, possessed, like Calvino, a remarkable gift for filling the empty deprived spaces of modern life with the invisible cities and the wonder worlds of imagination. Best known for his novels, such as Empire of the Sun and Crash, Ballard rose to fame as the ideal chronicler of disturbed modernity (The Observer). Perhaps less known, though equally brilliant, were his devastatingly original short stories, which span nearly fifty years and reveal an unparalleled prescience so unique that a new word Ballardian had to be invented. Ballard, who wrote that short stories are the loose change in the treasury of fiction, easily ignored beside the wealth of novels available, regretted the fact that the public had increasingly lost its ability to appreciate them. With 98 pulse-quickening stories, this volume helps restore the very art form that Ballard feared was comatose. Ballard s inimitable style was already present in his early stories, most of them published in science fiction magazines. These stories are surreal, richly atmospheric and splendidly elliptical, featuring an assortment of psychotropic houses, time-traveling assassins, and cities without clocks. Over the next fifty years, his fierce imaginative energy propelled him to explore new topics, including the dehumanization of technology, the brutality of the corporation, and nuclear Armageddon. Depicting the human soul as being enervated and corrupted by the modern world (New York Times), Ballard began to examine themes like overpopulation, as in Billenium, a claustrophobic imagining of a world of 20 billion people crammed into four-square-meter rooms, or the false realities of modern media, as in the classic Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan, a faux-psychological study of the sexual and violent reactions elicited by viewing Reagan s face on television, in which Ballard predicted the unholy fusion of pop culture and sound-bite politics thirteen years before Reagan became president. Given Ballard s heightened powers of perception, it is astonishing that the dehumanized world that he apprehended so acutely neither diminished his own febrile imagination nor his engagement with mankind, evident in every story, including two new ones for this American edition. So eerily prophetic is his vision, so commanding are his literary gifts, the import and insight of J. G. Ballard s deeply humanistic and transcendent works can only grow in years to come."
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Add this copy of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard to cart. $52.81, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by W. W. Norton & Company.
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Fair. Book is considered to be in acceptable condition. The actual cover image may not match the stock photo. Book may have one or more of the following defects: noticeable wear on the cover dust jacket or spine; curved dog eared or creased page s; writing or highlighting inside or on the edges; sticker s or other adhesive on cover; CD DVD may not be included; and book may be a former library copy.
Add this copy of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard to cart. $52.81, fair condition, Sold by Dream Books Co. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by W. W. Norton & Company.
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Fair. This copy has clearly been enjoyed-expect noticeable shelf wear and some minor creases to the cover. Binding is strong and all pages are legible. May contain previous library markings or stamps.
Add this copy of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard to cart. $53.80, fair condition, Sold by Upward bound books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Valrico, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by W. W. Norton & Company.
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Add this copy of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard to cart. $55.42, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by W. W. Norton & Company.
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Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. NOT AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.
Add this copy of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard to cart. $100.81, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by W. W. Norton & Company.
Add this copy of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard to cart. $666.67, fair condition, Sold by 2nd Life Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Burlington, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by W. W. Norton & Company.
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Fair. A readable copy. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Dust jacket may be missing. Pages can include considerable highlighting markings writing but cannot obscure the text. May be an Ex-lib. copy and have standard library stamps and or stickers. May NOT include discs or access code or other supplemental material. We ship Monday-Saturday and respond to inquiries within 24 hours.
