J.G. Crash.

by BALLARD

£2,750 · Offered by Henry Sotheran Ltd

BALLARD, J.G. Crash. London: Jonathan Cape. 1973. 8vo. Green paper wrappers with black lettering to spine; printed draft of publisher's description affixed to half title; pp. [4], 224; slight discolouration on front cover and to top and side of template; minor bruising to spine, revisions and annotations in ink to pp. 53 59, 108 109, 124 125/126/127 200. The published work deletes the exclamation mark in the title of the proof, and the description affixed to the half title was revised before publication. A copy of the UK proof edition, this copy with a number of manuscript revisions, seemingly in the author's hand, which do not appear in published versions of the novel. A controversial work exploring the experiences of a group of car-crash fetishists, sexually aroused by staging and participating in car accidents. Unsurprisingly, opinion was highly divided upon publication, the New York Times reviewer declaring the novel "hands-down, the most repulsive book I've yet to come across" and another returning the verdict "This author is beyond psychiatric help. Do Not Publish!". Ballard wrote of the work: "Throughout Crash I have used the car not only as a sexual image, but as a total metaphor for man's life in today's society. As such the novel has a political role quite apart from its sexual content, but I would still like to think that Crash is the first pornographic novel based on technology. In a sense, pornography is the most political form of fiction, dealing with how we use

• Binding: Hardcover

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