The Complete Short Stories: Volume 2

The Complete Short Stories: Volume 2
Adam Thirlwell

J. G. Ballard

The second in a two volume collection of acclaimed short stories by the author of Empire of the Sun, Crash, Cocaine Nights and Super-Cannes.JG Ballard is firmly established as one of Britain’s most highly regarded and influential novelists. However, during his long career he was also a prolific writer of short stories, many of which show the germination of ideas he used in his longer fiction.This, the second book in a two-volume collection, offers a platform from which to view Ballard’s other works. Almost all of his novels had their seeds in short stories and this collection provides an extraordinary opportunity to trace the development of one of Britain’s most visionary writers.

Copyright (#ulink_f393f82d-7609-5e6b-8d5d-a552139ebe7b)

Fourth Estate

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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London W6 8JB

4thestate.co.uk (http://www.4thestate.co.uk)

This edition published by Fourth Estate in 2014

First published in Great Britain by Flamingo in 2001

This collection copyright © J. G. Ballard 2001

Most of the stories in this book previously appeared in the following collections:

The Terminal Beach © J. G. Ballard 1964; The Disaster Area © J. G. Ballard 1967; The Day of Forever © J. G. Ballard 1967; The Atrocity Exhibition © J. G. Ballard 1969; Vermilion Sands © J. G. Ballard 1971; Low-Flying Aircraft © J. G. Ballard 1976; The Venus Hunters © J. G. Ballard 1980; Myths of the Near Future © J. G. Ballard 1982; War Fever © J. G. Ballard 1990

The following stories have not previously appeared in a collection of J. G. Ballard’s stories:

‘The Recognition’ © J. G. Ballard 1967; ‘A Guide to Virtual Death’ © J. G. Ballard 1992; ‘The Message from Mars’ © J. G. Ballard 1992; ‘Report from an Obscure Planet’ © J. G. Ballard 1992

The right of J. G. Ballard to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

Introduction © Adam Thirlwell 2014

Interview © Travis Elborough 2004

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Cover by Stanley Donwood

Ebook Edition © APRIL 2014 ISBN: 9780007513611

Version: 2014-08-28

Contents

Cover (#u16712e67-cf76-5d9c-bb9e-2040f14f0542)

Title Page (#u343e0081-3d5d-58b3-9c9b-2839f3baedd3)

Copyright (#ulink_c85ed4f4-0bb8-5cea-91aa-13da94b667e0)

Author’s Note (#ulink_c2fe4912-3c27-55da-aeb9-bec6f338fcef)

Introduction by Adam Thirlwell (#ulink_58e35866-e12b-5e9f-b210-7a0aa25d8135)

Prisoner of the Coral Deep (#ulink_c8971b6f-bbfe-5924-9042-61a0dd9b39a0)

The Lost Leonardo (#ulink_203d53e5-5c30-537a-ab50-251e21f6b828)

The Terminal Beach (#ulink_6fae66b3-290a-567f-ac8a-191e7433e694)

The Illuminated Man (#ulink_96379211-ce2c-5995-85a6-7935f039549f)

The Delta at Sunset (#ulink_13f35669-56ab-5e03-96d7-9f5aa530b0ac)

The Drowned Giant (#ulink_db6de3cc-3507-5b50-9ce8-c0fa3ef116ee)

The Gioconda of the Twilight Noon (#ulink_076a7d38-7eb2-5809-8c1d-cb4c7031d595)

The Volcano Dances (#ulink_2f6b46a2-f53c-5bcc-9030-822f900eebfa)

The Beach Murders (#ulink_4223a7fe-edc9-5c1c-97ff-5fd45345db6e)

The Day of Forever (#ulink_d05bd8e2-4d3f-5664-9900-e0188eb03e03)

The Impossible Man (#ulink_4e062d9b-b7b3-5fe6-a5d6-62aff3d888a6)

Storm-Bird, Storm-Dreamer (#litres_trial_promo)

Tomorrow is a Million Years (#litres_trial_promo)

The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race (#litres_trial_promo)

Cry Hope, Cry Fury! (#litres_trial_promo)

The Recognition (#litres_trial_promo)

The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D (#litres_trial_promo)

Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan (#litres_trial_promo)

The Dead Astronaut (#litres_trial_promo)