The Atrocity Exhibition

The Atrocity Exhibition is an experimental novel of linked stories or “condensed novels” by British writer J.G. Ballard. Genre is experimental, science-fiction, dystopian, speculative fiction. It is J.G. Ballard's most complex, disturbing work, with fabulous photos by Ana Barrado and artwork by Phoebe Gloeckner.

Goodreads, Nate D

“…the amazing 1980 RE/Search edition, an unsettling large-format juxtaposition of a newly Ballard-annotated text against deftly detourned medical illustrations and photographs of modern architecture. Likely the perfect form of an edifice of deconstructed experience of the 20th century.”

a journey through the chaotic orgy of madness and violence taking place all around him (and us) at any given moment. All we vaguely know is that our man is a doctor, possibly a psychiatrist or a neurologist. Then his psyche, haunted by the daily ‘atrocity exhibition’ of our era and struggling to make sense of it all, degenerates into a shapeshifting conundrum of identities… images of celebrities: Marilyn Monroe (disfigured by radioactivity bruises), Albert Camus, Lee Harvey Oswald, Brigitte Bardot, Jacqueline Kennedy, Ralph Nader are all actors in the same atrocity newsreel

“…The Atrocity Exhibition is a profound book in which a man’s fragmented self explores the post-modern era of Hollywood stars, art icons, Pop celebs and Congo massacres, WW3 (yes) bomber pilots, pornography (the ultimate form of scientific exploration of the human body). The main character’s several identities set off in search of a meaning

Goodreads, Fede

“The great icons of Surrealism provide the writer with a huge amount of visual inspiration; in fact he explicitly refers to the art of Dali, Dominguez, Tanguy, Ernst, Matta all throughout the book… The Atrocity Exhibition is an enigma to be deciphered. A medieval mystery of the atomic era… I therefore recommend those readers who are still unacquainted with Ballard to start with this absolute masterpiece, without being afraid of its reputation. It is neither incomprehensible nor meaningless; just let yourself go and delve into it. Believe me, you’ll feel at home.”

From the Back Cover

When the ATROCITY EXHIBITION was originally printed (1970), Nelson Doubleday saw a copy and was so horrified he ordered the entire press run shredded. Two years later Grove Press brought out a small hardback printing re-titled Love and Napalm: Export USA. Now RE/Search brings out an illustrated, large-format edition of this notorious work, augmented with four recently written stories, plus extensive annotations—written by the author, never before published—which clarify and illuminate this exhilarating, prophetic masterpiece.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

“As Princess Margaret reached middle age, the skin of both her cheeks and neck tended to sag from failure of the supporting structures. Her naso-labial folds deepened, and the soft tissues along her jaw fell forward. Her jowls tended to increase. In profile the creases of her neck lengthened and the chin-neck contour lost its youthful outline and became convex. “The eminent plastic surgeon Richard Battle has remarked that one of the great misfortunes of the cosmetic surgeon is that he only has the technical skill, ability and understanding to correct this situation by surgical means. However, as long as people are prepared to pay fees for this treatment the necessary operation will be performed. Incisions made across the neck with the object of removing redundant tissue should be avoided. These scars tend to be unduly prominent and may prove to be the subject of litigation. In the case of Princess Margaret the incision was designed to be almost completely obscured by her hair and ears.”

About the Author

J.G. Ballard: Born in Shanghai November 15, 1930, James Graham Ballard spent the first 15 years of his life in China. Interned in a Japanese camp during World War II, he was repatriated to England at the age of sixteen. After studying medicine at Cambridge, he sold his first “speculative fiction” story to New Worlds in 1956 and began writing a series of planetary disaster novels, ultimately focusing on the inner landscape in psychopathological classics such as Crash and High-Rise. In 1987 Steven Spielberg made a movie of his best-selling autobiographical work, Empire of the Sun. For the past 30 years J.G. Ballard has lived in Shepperton, England, home of the famous film studios. {J.G. Ballard died April 19, 2009 in London, U.K.]

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