The Atrocity Exhibition, J.G. Ballard
First UK edition, first printing of Ballard's experimental series of "condensed novels"–collages of images presenting a kaleidoscopic pattern of twentieth-century myths and motifs, particularly those that dominated the 1960s. Political assassinations, customized cars, the space program, the arms race, the media as brokers of celebrity–all are juxtaposed here in a nightmarish panorama of a culture out of control, subject to a cancerous malaise (Anatomy of Wonder, 4-33). Increasingly scarce in this true first edition.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1970. A very good or better copy in an about near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Binding is sturdy, slight lean to spine, minimal wear to boards. Owner's notes to title page and opposite chapter one, else clean. Jacket shows minor shelfwear, a bit of price sticker residue to flap. Presents very well, protected in archival mylar.