$13.99 with 26 percent savings
List Price: $18.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Saturday, May 11 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 7 hrs 10 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$13.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$13.99
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon
Ships from
Amazon
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the authors

See all
Dan O'Hara
Follow
J. G. Ballard
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Extreme Metaphors Paperback – December 2, 2014

by J. G. Ballard (Author), Simon Sellars (Editor), Dan O’Hara (Editor)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 66 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$13.99","priceAmount":13.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"13","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"6fS%2Fg5H%2BIMVkpImGvORyWpqEYkJRWMKINdERa91sV002LIzwjb00zdUFOl0GyiFMLpLmgcwTl%2FXIVO3ADgPLEh3%2B0cjWjdnd%2FBjYyo4SpmSO6sPo29PnlArqedkrhVLOdzlXvpxOg2KUPUlmGUddaScOyVJCnl2ihLJmGae%2BRutywXOiw0EfyQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

A startling and at times unsettlingly prescient collection of J. G. Ballard’s greatest interviews.

J.G. Ballard was a literary giant. Best known for his controversial bestseller ‘Crash’ and the memoir ‘Empire of the Sun’, he was a writer of unique talent – always surprising, frequently prescient.

Such acuity was not exclusive to his novels and, as this book reminds us, Ballard’s restive intelligence sharpened itself in dialogue. He entertained many with insights into the world as he saw it, and speculated, often correctly, about its future. Some of these observations earned Ballard an oracular reputation, and continue to yield an uncannily accurate commentary today.

‘Extreme Metaphors’ collects the finest interviews of his career. Conversations with Will Self, Jon Savage, Iain Sinclair and John Gray, and collaborators like David Cronenberg, are a reminder of his wit and humanity, testament to Ballard’s profound worldliness as much as his otherworldly imagination. This collection is an indispensable tribute to one of recent history’s most original thinkers.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    528 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Fourth Estate
  4. Publication date
    December 2, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    5.06 x 1.31 x 7.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9780007454860
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0007454860
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

Extreme Metaphors
$13.99
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by Loyal Exclusivez and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
Hello America: A Novel
$14.59
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
One of these items ships sooner than the other.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

From the Publisher

A1

B1

B2

B3

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘An illuminating and at times revelatory collection of more than 40 interviews given over 41 years’ John Grey, New Statesman

‘Several pieces are previously unpublished, or translated for the first time, and devotees will find plenty to enjoy’ Andrew McKie, Spectator

‘Impeccably edited, the book serves a s a valuable coda to one of the strangest and most haunted imaginations in English literature’ Ian Thomson, Books of the Year, Observer

About the Author

J. G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai, where his father was a businessman. After internment in a civilian prison camp, he and his family returned to England in 1946. He published his first novel, The Drowned World, in 1961. His 1984 bestseller Empire of the Sun won the Guardian Fiction Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His memoir Miracles of Life was published in 2008. J. G. Ballard died in 2009.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0007454864
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fourth Estate (December 2, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780007454860
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0007454860
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.06 x 1.31 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 66 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Previous page
  1. Dan O'Hara

    Dan O'Hara

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

    See more on the author's page
  2. J. G. Ballard

    J. G. Ballard

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

    See more on the author's page
  3. Simon Sellars

    Simon Sellars

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Simon Sellars is a writer and editor based in Melbourne, Australia. His latest novel is CODE BEAST (Wanton Sun, 2023), a semi-sequel to his cult theory-fiction classic, Applied Ballardianism: Memoir from a Parallel Universe.

    See more on the author's page
Next page

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
66 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Danilo
5.0 out of 5 stars Going deep into Ballards mind
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2013
Verified Purchase
These interviews, collected for the first time in one book, plumb the depths of an extraordinary mind, one of the 20th and 21st century's most gifted visionaries, J.G. Ballard. This is a treasure for all Ballardians. The editors have done a great service. And what is also great it is not necessary to have read any of Ballards novels or short stories to enjoy this book, althogh you owe it to yourself to read any of Ballard's work because its an education in itself.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Maggie Olga
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating series of interviews
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2013
Verified Purchase
Ballard has always been one of my husband's favorite SF writers. This collection of interviews covering over 40 years fascinates him. He tells me that it has really helped him understand how Ballard thought and how he grew as a writer. My husband has not finished it yet, because it so good he does not want to finish it.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Benoit Lelievre
4.0 out of 5 stars That man knew a lot of stuff. Predicted a lot more, too
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2019
Forty years worth of conversation with a man who was as much a science fiction writers as he was horrifyingly foreseeing about this big blue spaceship we call our planet.

Ballard is extremely thorough and generous in his answers. He never has nothing to say about the conversation topics chosen by the interviewers and his thoughts are always razor sharp and informative. A few highlights:

- Saying the world would gradually phase out novels because our mass-mediatized reality is a fictional construction.

- Saying that everyone is going to call themselves "storytellers" in the future because it would a genuine part of their jobs.

- The inspiration anecdotes for his novel High-Rise that was 15 years in the making and that was based on several real incidents.

- The hilarious amount of explanation and justification he had to give for his novels The Atrocity Exhibition and Crash, which are two of his most iconic today.

The only major problem this collection suffer from is that he's getting asked the same questions over and over again in each interviews. They could've easily been edited out of it. I mean, how many times can he answer "what is science fiction for you?

It's great, though. If you love Ballard as much as I do, this is a must read
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

F
5.0 out of 5 stars Ballard in his own words
Reviewed in Italy on April 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
Hugely informative and interesting contents, providing the lifelong fan as well as the neophyte with plenty of insightful details on Ballard's work - from his own perspective. An excellent collection which I definitely recommend.
Report
tallmanbaby
5.0 out of 5 stars Ballard in genial form
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
It is wonderful to see the current roll out of republished versions of all these Ballard books. The introduction to this generous selection of interviews with JG Ballard argues that his interviews might even be better than his books, and the following interviews make a strong case for that being true.

Non Ballard fans are likely to find the book of sporadic interest, as Ballard casts an insightful eye over our strange ways, technology and their intersection. For Ballard fans it is interesting to see the books grouped into trilogies, and to hear how they were written. He acknowledges their repetition and lack of variation. There is a smattering about the films, and Ballard obviously knew a lot of interesting people, without getting into endless namedropping. Oddly I did not see any mention of When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth but otherwise the commentary is incredibly well researched and insightful.

It might come as a surprise just how affable and well adjusted Ballard seems to be, but then I never read his books as being unduly dark and depressing, more of a cool look at something that we ought to think about about very carefully.
4 people found this helpful
 Report
strangefruit
5.0 out of 5 stars Ballard at his most excited and entertaining
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 22, 2014
Verified Purchase
Here, a collection of interviews from a master of the medium. No reading of Ballard can go without also experiencing his free talking self articulately explaining how the world is and will be. J.G. has gone where others dared not to tread, has excavated an extreme wilderness of the inner self. It is a world that was establishing itself with the post war era. No other writer has delved more vigorously into what it means to be Modern, what it means to be surrounded by a spaghetti of highways all around, for all life to be evaporated by the sun, or drowned by the sea, or be crystallised into the forest - global warming, industrial landscapes, psychological transformation from the outer to the inner world, through media projections and the slow motion car crash. The new world creates endless possibilities - here explored by Ballard himself talking in a highly lucid and sometimes obsessed way about the way he sees the world. Well edited with helpful introductions giving the context for each interview.
3 people found this helpful
 Report
Andrew Buckle
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb selection of interviews
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2012
Verified Purchase
An impressive selection of interviews from one of the greatest writers of recent years. The first interview is from 1967. The book contains one or two interview per year from then on. Some cover the same ground but virtually all the interviews are worth reading for his interesting insights into car crashes, inner space, advertising (wonder what he would think about the dire TV adverts of today), dunes, landscapes, art, concrete bypasses, SF etc.

Certain there are many more interviews out there as apparently J G Ballard was interviewed by some pretty obscure magazines. I would definitely buy an subsequent volumes
10 people found this helpful
 Report
OMC
5.0 out of 5 stars Endless stream of wisdom
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2014
Verified Purchase
Exhaustive collection of interviews Ballard gave during his career. From big publications to small SF zines. Ballard was a good talker and generous with his ideas. At times I had to put down the book after reading a page because it contains so many ideas you have to process slowly. A must-read for lovers of Ballard's fiction and the more adventurous science fiction reader.
Report