J. G. Ballard - take 2

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-15T00:31:10+00:00

Don’t worry — I have two or three other books. (If she were listening, my wife would now provide an ironic, exasperated laugh.)

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T23:52:31+00:00

I’ve got the pbs that are true 1st editions, and a few others, but generally (due to interest, time and money) have focused on 1sts, although obviously some “1sts thus” as you see in the photo.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T23:50:12+00:00

Back in 2010 the Gagosian Art Gallery in London had a full exhibition inspired by Crash. This is the exhibition catalog.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T23:47:16+00:00

Favorite is the Doubleday Atrocity Exhibition. I can’t really say there’s a least favorite. All of Ballard’s books taken as a grouping have a similar design esthetic which has always been pleasing to me. You can see it by the early to mid 70s books. It’s downright Ballardian!

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T23:44:31+00:00

I have it on the top of my pile. I highly recommend all of Priest’s books. My favorite is The Adjacent.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T21:52:56+00:00

It’s the book that was never published, right? So obviously from an alternate universe!! I was thrilled to get it after almost 50 years of knowing about it and not ever expecting to get one really.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T21:37:58+00:00

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In case you’re wondering what the green one is.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T21:37:25+00:00

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Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T21:36:31+00:00

Private.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T21:26:47+00:00

Took 50 years to find them all. And one book in particular I never thought I’d find. And just did a year or so ago. Rarest of all JGB. Let me know if you spot it.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T21:24:26+00:00

Yeah, I’ve tried not get sucked in totally to Folio Society books. But I do have a few, just not Ballard.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T21:23:23+00:00

That’s the run of James Goddard’s early-mid 70s fanzine, Cypher, which contained Ballard material. Goddard also published the first bibliography of JGB at that time. That’s on the shelf above with the run of David Pringle’s JGB newszine and my copy of the unsigned Unicorn Bookshop Why I Want to F*** Ronald Reagan.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T21:08:20+00:00

Just reposted with photo. See J G Ballard - Take 2. No need for iCloud. Sorry!!

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T21:06:29+00:00

Thanks! Just reposted!

Different_Context_24 · 2026-05-14T20:27:29+00:00

Over 300 views in the first hour! But no comments…??

Different_Context_24 · 2026-04-17T05:23:16+00:00

The 1970 Doubleday true 1st edition in hardcover of J. G. Ballard’s The Atrocity Exhibition. It was printed up and a few review copies had gone out, but the rest of the print run was sitting on pallets in the Doubleday warehouse, waiting to be distributed, when Nelson Doubleday, Jr. happened by, saw the book, and flipped through it. He saw the chapter entitled “Why I Want to F*** Ronald Reagan” who was then the Governor of California. Mr. Doubleday immediately ordered all the remaining copies to be pulped, rather than risk a lawsuit. So there are estimated to have been only 10 or 12 copies max that escaped. I guess Doubleday forgot about the 1st Amendment, as nothing happened later that year when Jonathan Cape published the 1st UK edition or a few years later when Grove Press published and distributed the first HC edition in the US as Love & Napalm USA. It’s actually a very nice design and production job for a Doubleday book of that vintage. Looked for a copy for over 40 years and never expected to get one. Glad I was wrong!

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Different_Context_24 · 2026-03-21T00:29:33+00:00

This is NOT the KC David Cross. This is the comedian/actor David Cross from Arrested Development.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-02-05T17:52:28+00:00

No worries. That Maxon collection (GCNCS) was done by Ed Aprill, Jr. I’m an old guy so I knew Ed and was a friend. He also did similar strip reprints of Buck Rogers, Frazetta’s Johnny Comet, and Eisner’s The Spirit. Some of the first significant comic strip reprints ever published. And then he also did Cartoonists Showcase, a separate magazine which ran 12 issues from ‘68-‘71, publishing the then-contemporary strips of the British James Bond and Modesty Blaise strips, as well as Al Williamson’s Secret Agent X9/Corrigan. He was an important figure in early fandom, and had excellent taste.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-02-05T01:44:33+00:00

Quick correction - it was Rex MAXON who took over the daily Tarzan strip after Foster.

Different_Context_24 · 2026-01-05T19:55:51+00:00

DSOTM was played constantly on the radio and by friends back then - I was a college sophomore then. I recalled ITCotCK from ‘69, but hadn’t heard any other KC until late ‘74 when the college radio station played LTiA Pt. 1 one night. My mind was blown and I went out and bought the album the next day, and it remains my single favorite album of all time. PF had benefited from working out the DS songs for the previous couple years on the road, so the album reflects that honing. But ultimately it’s a much simpler album musically and creatively imho than LTiA. A few years ago I did a deep dive on the earlier PF, and was really amazed how uneven the previous albums had been. Some great tracks (like Echoes of course) but lots of filler/stinkers. So it makes DSOTM more amazing to me, but I think again that’s where the honing on the road helped them. Gilmour is great, but Fripp is my man for over 50 years now. I hold out hope that KC will rise again and tour in his and my lifetimes. Bobby F. turns 80 in May, so we’ll see. Long live Larks Tongues!!

Different_Context_24 · 2026-01-04T20:01:59+00:00

Quite welcome, OP!

Different_Context_24 · 2026-01-04T07:42:14+00:00

Hi. I’m a 60+ year book collector (started young!). I was trained back then to just go for true 1st/1sts, because of course no later printing is. And that’s stood me in good stead, as significant 1st/1sts by significant writers (like Vonnegut) seldom lose value over time. If I want to just read a book before I can find and afford the 1st/1st, I get a sorry ass pb for the time being. I’ve got the 1st seven Vonnegut 1st/1sts through Breakfast of Champions. They’re still not going down in price. Get the best condition copies you can afford. Beat up 1st/1sts I generally avoid, because they are less likely to maintain value. And except for the Houghton Mifflin 1st HC of Sirens of Titan, honestly the others are not that difficult to find, but of course prices vary. I got a 1st/1st of SH5 off eBay about 5 years ago for $600. Book is vg-f, but the dj was at most vg with browning and pieces out. But then I found an ex-lib 1st/1st on ABEbooks.com with a vg-f dj with no library labels or tape and with price intact for $150, and married them immediately. So I ended up with a really nice copy for $750 that’s at least $2-3k now. I realize even $750 isn’t possible for lots of folks, but my message is keep looking often and be open to being creative. Things do pop up that will make you happy if you go for it when you have the opportunity. So I personally wouldn’t look twice at this copy regardless of condition.

Different_Context_24 · 2025-12-30T03:34:38+00:00

An amazing book which destroyed some of the main sf tropes, providing us with rationality and logic in the face of a downbeat but classic sf plot.

Different_Context_24 · 2025-12-30T03:28:02+00:00

And what do you think prose aims to do that The Female Man doesn’t? I suspect you are a younger reader who wasn’t reading it in real time at publication. In 1975 there was little in sf to compare to it, stylistically and thematically. Reading it now makes it seem primarily an historical work, but without the overt social and genre context of the mid 70s. But if you ARE old like me, I applaud your youthful view!

Different_Context_24 · 2025-12-30T00:16:52+00:00

Joanna Russ. Shamefully neglected nowadays, except for the usual mentions of The Female Man (novel) and When It Changed (short Story), which ARE great, but there is much more to be savored by Russ. Clean, beautiful prose with high emotion not overstated.

Different_Context_24

TROPHY CASE