Ballard, James Graham (1973) ‘Crash’, UK first edition

James Graham Ballard (1973) ‘Crash‘, UK first edition, first printing, published by Jonathan Cape.

Condition: a near fine copy in like dust jacket. There are no previous owners’ inscriptions, no stamps and no bookplates. Clean throughout. No foxing. The top page block edge is slightly darkened compared to the rest of the page block. The spine tips are faded as is common with the title since the jacket is a bit shorter than the book. the dust jacket is NOT price clipped showing the correct GBP 2.25 net price as called for. Just a little edge wear at the top of the spine and slight spine fading.

‘Crash’ is Ballard’s best known novel and stirred up some controversty upon publication. Dealing with symphorophilia the subject matter is not easy to digest for the vast majority of readers. Thus, many reviewers called the author ‘sick’. However, this was Ballard’s intention as he wanted to rub humanity’s worst into its own face. David Cronenberg’s (1996) film adaptation stirred up the same controversy again. Starring James Spader and Holly Hunter, the movie won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes.