The JG Ballard Book

Introducing The JG Ballard Book, an oversized collection of articles, ideas, interviews, insights and a travelogue... as well as uniquely featuring hi-rez reproductions of over 60 pages of handwritten and typed letters from JG Ballard himself. The JG Ballard Book is 192 (count 'em) full-colour large format pages of fun and fascinating insights into "The Seer of Shepperton" -- his life, his work and his planar intersections. The JG Ballard Book features contributions from some well-known denizens of the Ballardian universe: Toby Litt suggests Ballard's political ideology may be as inverted as his plots; David Pringle offers up his thoughtful 1984 interview, "JG Ballard: Psychoanalyst of the Electronic Age"; Michael Bonsall cuts it open with "JG Ballard in the Dissecting Room"; Michael Holliday stitches together all the disconnected Atrocity Exhibition bits in "Desperate Measures: A History of The Atrocity Exhibition"; seminal Ballard bibliographer James Goddard contributes actual Ballard documents from his extensive collection, a total of 56 pages of Ballard's handwritten text, interview corrections, lists and more from JGB's intense and experimental late 1960s and 1970s; Rick Poynor paints a picture of how Ballard has been treated by the visual media in "What Does JG Ballard Look Like?"; Sam Francis, fresh from his acclaimed study, The Psychological Fictions of JG Ballard, amuses us with an unpublished 2005 Ballard interview; Prof Peter Brigg clocks in with "JG Ballard: Time Out of Mind"; Jordi Costa, the creative force behind the JGB exhibition in Barcelona, takes a big screen look with "Ballardoscope: Some Attempts at Approaching the Writer as a Visionary"; Paul A. Green amazingly paints a pure Ballard pastiche with "The Impossibility Exhibition"; and Rick McGrath re-imagines his 2007 journey to Shanghai to visit the few remains of JG Ballard's youth in the "wicked city", with original letters, maps and drawings by Ballard. The book features original cover art by Luca del Baldo and 10 delicious photographs by Ana Barrado. The JG Ballard Book is a large format, full-colour, must-have collection for any Ballard fan!

Graham Rae, Dangerous Minds, 22 March 2014: I'd have to say it's a damned fine-looking book. Starting with the great painting of Ballard on the cover by extremely talented, amiable Italian painter Luca Del Baldo, the book is jam-packed with 191 pages of well-reproduced full-color Ballard letters, interviews with hand-written corrections by the writer, bibliographies, etc; a real smorgasbord of juicy Ballardania for any fan of the writer. Color photos and cover reproductions and such jump from nearly every page of The JG Ballard Book, and it's a real pleasure to look at from start to finish. This is a labor of love, and it really shows. Tom Hunter, Arc, 27 Jan 2014: The pathology of fandom is perhaps most obviously revealed through a predilection for collecting. With that diagnosis in mind, I feel very happy indeed to have been anatomised by The JG Ballard Book, even as I add it to the shelves of my own personal Ballard exhibition. Fay Ballard, 10 Oct 2013: "The books are wonderful, a huge achievement, packed full of fascinating material and so visual. I particularly like the way you've included heaps of original handwritten, hand edited, and typewritten material, books covers, art, photos etc. A feast." V. VALE's RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #120, November, 2013. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY RE/SEARCH: "Rick McGrath of Canada has produced his own JG Ballard Anthology book; - it features photos by Ana Barrado! JG Ballard expert Rick McGrath sent us his new 8.5x11" hardback on JG Ballard and it is beautiful (also rare, hard to find) and for us, totally engrossing. Every night we read ourselves to sleep with it. Fun to read the color reproductions (60 pages!!) of actual bibliographies, letters, an interview with additions/emendations/corrections by JGB himself - more challenging and fun than reading "normal" typeset words on pages. Also, the fact that this is not a corporately-published book but a labor of love, makes the experience of owing this actual physical object much more "poignant." In fact, we at RE/Search need to find out the nuts-and-bolts of how this book was physically produced, and how long it took. This is now one of our favorite books of all time! Beautifully produced; a rare "niche" item and object."