The Complete Short Stories: Volume 1

Description

First in a two volume collection of short stories by the acclaimed author of 'Empire of the Sun', 'Crash' and 'Super-Cannes'. The new edition is introduced by Adam Thirwell. 'A one-man genre. He was impregnably sui generis. No one is or was remotely like him' Martin Amis For over four decades, J. G. Ballard was one of Britain's most celebrated and original novelists. However, during his long career he was also a prolific writer of short stories, a form in which many argue he laid his firmest claim to greatness. This, the first book in a two-volume collection, offers an unparalleled introduction to a master storyteller. Set out in the original order of publication, its stories - many of them embryos for later novels - present the full imaginative range of one of Britain's greatest writers. This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard's works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Ali Smith, Iain Sinclair, Martin Amis and Ned Beauman) and brand-new cover designs from the artist Stanley Donwood.

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.

'[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