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Fourth Estate An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 77–85 Fulham Palace Road London W6 8JB This edition published by Fourth Estate in 2014 First published in Great Britain by Flamingo in 2001 This collection copyright © J. G. Ballard 2001 Most of the stories in this book previously appeared in the following collections: The Terminal Beach © J. G. Ballard 1964; The Disaster Area © J. G. Ballard 1967; The Day of Forever © J. G. Ballard 1967; The Atrocity Exhibition © J. G. Ballard 1969; Vermilion Sands © J. G. Ballard 1971; Low-Flying Aircraft © J. G. Ballard 1976; The Venus Hunters © J. G. Ballard 1980; Myths of the Near Future © J. G. Ballard 1982; War Fever © J. G. Ballard 1990 The following stories have not previously appeared in a collection of J. G. Ballard’s stories: ‘The Recognition’ © J. G. Ballard 1967; ‘A Guide to Virtual Death’ © J. G. Ballard 1992; ‘The Message from Mars’ © J. G. Ballard 1992; ‘Report from an Obscure Planet’ © J. G. Ballard 1992 The right of J. G. Ballard to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. Introduction © Adam Thirlwell 2014 Interview © Travis Elborough 2004 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Cover by Stanley Donwood Ebook Edition © APRIL 2014 ISBN: 9780007513611 Version: 2014-08-28 Contents
Introduction by Adam Thirlwell
The Gioconda of the Twilight Noon
The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race
The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D
Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan
The Greatest Television Show on Earth
My Dream of Flying to Wake Island