‘Art is despair with dignity’

Rushing to Paradise

Rushing to Paradise

J. G. Ballard and Rivka Galchen

J.G. Ballard – author of Crash and Empire of the Sun – explores the extremes of ecology and feminism in this highly acclaimed modern fable.

Dr Barbara Rafferty is a fearless conservationist, determined to save a rare albatross from extinction. Her crusade gains widespread coverage when earnest young environmentalist Neil Dempsey is shot during an ill-fated attempt to rescue the bird from its Pacific island habitat, Saint-Esprit.

Support for the conservationists grows and well-wishers flock to the island, bringing with them specimens of other endangered creatures to be protected by Dr Barbara and her crew. The island seems a new Eden.

But is the intense Dr Barbara as altruistic as she appears? Why are the islanders committing acts of self-sabotage? And what’s keeping Neil alive while the other men sicken?

A classic exploration of the extremes of human behaviour from J.G Ballard, this is a brilliantly unsettling novel in which all preconceptions are overthrown.

Reviews of Rushing to Paradise

    • ‘Ballard is a magician of the contemporary scene and a literary saboteur. Rushing to Paradise is a Wellsian drama of extremity and isolation…No one else writes with such enchanted clarity or strange power’ Guardian
    • ‘Pure Ballard. I read it with rapt fascination…Wonderful’ William Boyd
    • ‘Robinson Crusoe in reverse. Teasing and sardonic…Ballard at his best’ Independent on Sunday

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