Product Description

The second volume in a two volume collection of acclaimed short stories by the author of Empire of the Sun, Crash, Cocaine Nights and Super-Cannes -- regarded by many as Britain's No 1 living fiction writer. With sixteen novels over four decades -- from 'The Drowned World' in 1962 to his highly acclaimed 'Super-Cannes' in 2000 -- J.G. Ballard is firmly established as one of Britain's most celebrated and original novelists. For all that time he has also written short stories; in fact, many people consider that he is at his best in the short-story format. These highly influential stories have appeared in magazines such as New Worlds, Amazing Stories and Interzone, and in several separate collections, including 'The Voices of Time', 'The Terminal Beach', 'The Day of Forever', 'The Venus Hunters', 'The Disaster Area', 'Vermilion Sands', 'Low-Flying Aircraft', 'Myths of the Near Future' and 'War Fever'. Set out in the order in which they were originally published, these stories provide an unprecedented opportunity to review the career of one of Britain's greatest writers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33995 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 784 pages

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.

Customer Reviews

Not quite complete, but essential anyway...
An excellent collection, well put together and comprehensive. Not sure why he chose to use the same introduction for both volumes, but these two books are a must for Ballard fans and highly recommended to all who enjoy quality, imaginative fiction. It would be grossly unfair to dismiss Ballard as 'science fiction'. This is literature of the highest quality.

As an update on JM Dent's review, the following stories can be found in The Atrocity Exhibition..
You and Me and the Continuum; / The Assassination Weapon; / You: Coma: Marilyn Monroe; / The Atrocity Exhibition; / Plan for the Assassination of Jacqueline Kennedy; / Love and Napalm: Export USA; / The Great American Nude; / The University of Death; / The Generations of America; / The Summer Cannibals; / Tolerances of the Human Face; / Crash!; / Princess Margaret's Facelift;* / Mae West's Reduction Mammoplasty;*
TAE is an essential part of Ballard's oeuvre.

The Incomplete Short Stories
While it can undoubtedly be said that this two volume collection of excellent short stories is reasonably comprehensive, the title is a misnomer. This collection is incomplete.

It does NOT contain any of the following: The Violet Noon; You and Me and the Continuum; The Assassination Weapon; You: Coma: Marilyn Monroe; The Atrocity Exhibition; Plan for the Assassination of Jacqueline Kennedy; The Death Module; Love and Napalm: Export USA; The Great American Nude; The University of Death; The Generations of America; The Summer Cannibals; Tolerances of the Human Face; Crash!; Coitus 80; Princess Margaret's Facelift; Mae West's Reduction Mammoplasty; Queen Elizabeth's Rhinoplasty; Jane Fonda's Augmentation Mammoplasty; Journey Across a Crater; The Secret Autobiography of J. G. B******; Neil Armstrong Remembers His Journey to the Moon; The Dying Fall; The Ultimate City; Running Wild.

Note to publisher: Perhaps a third volume containing the above missing stories could be published, and then this collection really would be complete.

Other than that, Volume 1 & 2 of this collection is a good place to start as an introduction to J G Ballard, his superb imagination and his writing. These stories are definitely worth buying.