Amazon.com Review

Easily one of the 20th century's most visionary writers, J. G. Ballard still lives far ahead of his time. Called his "prophetic masterpiece" by many, The Atrocity Exhibition practically lies outside of any literary tradition. Part science fiction, part eerie historical fiction, part pornography, its characters adhere to no rules of linearity or stability. This reissued edition features an introduction by William S. Burroughs, extensive text commentary by Ballard, and four additional stories. Of specific interest are the illustrations by underground cartoonist and professional medical illustrator Phoebe Gloeckner. Her ultrarealistic images of eroticism and destruction add an important dimension to Ballard's text.

Review

'I would argue that "The Atrocity Exhibition" represents the zenith of the experimental novel in English. But Ballard's marginalia are a tour de force, a wholly original work in their own right. One can hear Ballard's voice as he offers a surreal evening class on his own work, life and preoccupations. This one is a must.' Will Self, Time Out 'Brilliant and unnerving!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

Review

'[Ballard has] one of the most haunting, cogent and individual imaginations in contemporary literature.' William Boyd, Mail on Sunday 'A feast, and not only for those who think -- as I do -- that Ballard has long been Britain's most original and inventive writer. For anyone bored with the stale conventions of mainstream fiction, his 90-odd stories of stilled time, desolate beauty and personal fulfilment in extreme situations will be sheer delight.' John Gray, New Statesman 'This marvellous, inexhaustible book is a monument at the end of fertile lands! Ballard is a superb writer; few could publish a book of this size which is never boring, where the invention never flags. Unfailingly ingenious and perverse.' Philip Hensher, Daily Telegraph 'Thank God for J.G. Ballard and his short stories in which wonder and awe never fade. It is no exaggeration to say that Ballard's stories are beyond compare. This is a collection of tales and fables to be savoured by admirers and newcomers alike.' Robert Edric, Spectator 'Reading this book of collected stories is a peculiarly enriching experience.' Jason Cowley, Observer

About the Author

J.G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai, where his father was a businessman. After internment in a civilian prison camp, he and 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, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was later filmed by Steven Spielberg. His controversial novel Crash was made into an equally controversial film by David Cronenberg.

The classic, award-winning novel, made famous by Steven Spielberg’s film, tells of a young boy’s struggle to survive World War II in China.

Jim is separated from his parents in a world at war. To survive, he must find a strength greater than all the events that surround him.

Shanghai, 1941—a city aflame from the fateful torch of Pearl Harbor. In streets full of chaos and corpses, a young British boy searches in vain for his parents. Imprisoned in a Japanese concentration camp, he is witness to the fierce white flash of Nagasaki, as the bomb bellows the end of the war… and the dawn of a blighted world.

Ballard’s enduring novel of war and deprivation, internment camps and death marches, and starvation and survival is an honest coming-of-age tale set in a world thrown utterly out of joint.

For the first time in one volume, the complete collected short stories by the author of and  — regarded by many as Britain’s No 1 living fiction writer.

With sixteen novels over four decades from in 1962 to the controversial in 1973, the award winning, semi-autobiographical in 1984 and his recent Sunday Times bestseller  — J.G. Ballard is firmly established as one of Britain’s most highly regarded and most influential novelists.

Throughout his remarkable career, he has won equal praise for his ground-breaking short stories, which he first started writing during his days as a medical student at Cambridge. In fact, it was winning a short story competition that gave him the impetus to become a full-time writer.

His first published works, ‘Prima Belladonna’ and ‘Escapement’, appeared in and in 1956. Ever since, he has been a prolific producer of stories, which have been published in numerous magazines and several separate collections, including , , , , , , , and .

Now, for the first time, all of J.G. Ballard’s published stories — including four that have not previously appeared in a collection — have been gathered together and arranged in the order of original publication, providing an unprecedented opportunity to review the career of one of Britain’s greatest writers.

A cause d'une fuite temporelle, le monde se cristallise peu à peu, notamment aux alentours de certains points chauds comme la région de Miami et la forêt qui borde la ville camerounaise de Mont Royal. Afin de retrouver son collègue Max Clair, et la femme de ce dernier, Suzanne, qui fut sa maîtresse, le Dr Edward Sanders, directeur adjoint d'une léproserie, se rend à Mont Royal. Dans l'ombre de la forêt de cristal, il va comprendre que même les hommes peuvent être touchés par le phénomène de cristallisation et, pire, que certains voient là leur unique chance de salut. Des quatre apocalypses écrit entre 1961 et 1966 par J.G.. Ballard, La Forêt de cristal est la plus belle, splendide évocation d'un monde qui devient un joyau chatoyant, aux arêtes trop vives. Une bibliographie complète des œuvres de J.G. Ballard clôt ce volume.