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CRASH! - UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY, SIGNED
by Ballard, J.G
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Stephenson, Virginia, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Jonathan Cape, Ltd, 1973. First Edition. Ballard's sixth and best-known novel, a postmodern dystopia centered around sexual fetishism involving car crashes. "After the narrator, named "Ballard," survives a serious automobile accident, he becomes fascinated and excited by car crashes, especially after he meets Vaughan, a fanatical "hoodlum scientist," whose ultimate ambition is to die with Elizabeth Taylor in a fiery car accident. Perhaps Ballard's darkest, most unsettling book. The identification between sex, automobiles and violent death are graphic, Ballard's tone is detached, almost clinical" (Barron, Horror Literature 4-16). Rare in the proof state, especially signed. First Impression. Octavo (19.5cm); original printed card wrappers; [6],7-224pp; signed by the author on the title page, with the publisher's slip bearing a synopsis, £2.75 price, and date of publication mounted to half-title page.
Synopsis
The definitive cult, post-modern novel – a shocking blend of violence, transgression and eroticism. When our narrator smashes his car into another and watches a man die in front of him, his sense of sexual possibilities in the world around him becomes detached. As he begins an affair with the dead man's wife, he finds himself drawn with increasing intensity to the mangled impacts of car crashes. Then he encounters Robert Vaughan, a former TV scientist turned nightmare angel of the expressway, who has gathered around him a collection of alienated crash victims and experiments with a series of erotic atrocities, each more sinister than the last. But Vaughan craves the ultimate crash - a head-on collision of blood, semen, engine coolant and iconic celebrity. First published in 1973 'Crash' remains one of the most shocking novels of the second half of the twentieth century and was made into an equally controversial film by David Cronenburg.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Captain Ahab's Rare Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 5794
- Title
- CRASH! - UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY, SIGNED
- Author
- Ballard, J.G
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- Jonathan Cape, Ltd
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1973
Terms of Sale
Captain Ahab's Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Captain Ahab's Rare Books
Biblio member since 2010
Stephenson, Virginia
About Captain Ahab's Rare Books
Founded in 2010, Captain Ahab's Rare Books specializes in first editions of literature, genre fiction, film-related books and ephemera, zines, manuscript and archival material.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Publisher's Slip
- A piece of paper from the publisher included in an advance review copy or an uncorrected proof copy of a book. A publisher's...
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