Overview

A startling and at times unsettlingly prescient collection of J. G. Ballard’s greatest interviews. J.G. Ballard was a literary giant. Best known for his controversial bestseller ‘Crash’ and the memoir ‘Empire of the Sun’, he was a writer of unique talent – always surprising, frequently prescient. Such acuity was not exclusive to his novels and, as this book reminds us, Ballard’s restive intelligence sharpened itself in dialogue. He entertained many with insights into the world as he saw it, and speculated, often correctly, about its future. Some of these observations earned Ballard an oracular reputation, and continue to yield an uncannily accurate commentary today. ‘Extreme Metaphors’ collects the finest interviews of his career. Conversations with Will Self, Jon Savage, Iain Sinclair and John Gray, and collaborators like David Cronenberg, are a reminder of his wit and humanity, testament to Ballard’s profound worldliness as much as his otherworldly imagination. This collection is an indispensable tribute to one of recent history’s most original thinkers.

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9780007454860

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Reviews

‘An illuminating and at times revelatory collection of more than 40 interviews given over 41 years’ John Grey, New Statesman ‘Several pieces are previously unpublished, or translated for the first time, and devotees will find plenty to enjoy’ Andrew McKie, Spectator ‘Impeccably edited, the book serves a s a valuable coda to one of the strangest and most haunted imaginations in English literature’ Ian Thomson, Books of the Year, Observer

Praise for 'Miracles of Life': 'The greatest of living English writers...a superb memoir.' Mail on Sunday 'What a wonderful book. If there's a better memoir by a contemporary English writer, I don't know it.' Daily Telegraph 'Fascinating...amazingly lucid...a memoir that effortlessly combines emotional frankness with artistic insight.' The Guardian 'Essential reading for fans.' New Statesman

'An illuminating and at times revelatory collection of more than 40 interviews given over 41 years' John Grey, New Statesman 'Several pieces are previously unpublished, or translated for the first time, and devotees will find plenty to enjoy' Andrew McKie, Spectator 'Impeccably edited, the book serves a s a valuable coda to one of the strangest and most haunted imaginations in English literature' Ian Thomson, Books of the Year, Observer

'An illuminating and at times revelatory collection of more than 40 interviews given over 41 years' John Grey, New Statesman 'Several pieces are previously unpublished, or translated for the first time, and devotees will find plenty to enjoy' Andrew McKie, Spectator 'Impeccably edited, the book serves a s a valuable coda to one of the strangest and most haunted imaginations in English literature' Ian Thomson, Books of the Year, Observer

Author Information

J. G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai. After internment in a civilian prison camp, 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. His controversial novel ‘Crash’ was made into a film by David Cronenberg. His autobiography ‘Miracles of Life’ was published in 2008, and a collection of interviews with the author, ‘Extreme Metaphors’, was published in 2012. J. G. Ballard passed away in 2009.

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