- J. G. Ballard, Introduction by Joshua Cohen

The Day of Creation

By J. G. Ballard, Introduction by Joshua Cohen

‘Classic Ballard. Mesmerising. No one writes with such haunting impact’ William Boyd

In parched, war-torn central Africa, Dr Mallory watches his clinic fail and dreams of discovering a third Nile to make the Sahara bloom. During his search for water, an ancient tree stump is uprooted by a bulldozer and water wells up, spreading until it becomes an enormous river. With the once arid land now abounding in birds and beasts, the obsessed Mallory forges up-river in an old car ferry, clashing with hostile factions as he tries to find the source of his own creation.

This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Ali Smith, Iain Sinclair, Martin Amis and Ned Beauman) and brand-new cover designs from the artist Stanley Donwood.

Author: J. G. Ballard , Joshua Cohen
Format: Paperback
Release Date: 25 Sep 2014
Pages: 288
ISBN: 978-0-00-722789-1
J. G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai. After internment in a civilian prison camp, his family returned to England in 1946. His 1984 bestseller ‘Empire of the Sun’ won the Guardian Fiction Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. His controversial novel ‘Crash’ was made into a film by David Cronenberg. His autobiography ‘Miracles of Life’ was published in 2008, and a collection of interviews with the author, ‘Extreme Metaphors’, was published in 2012. J. G. Ballard passed away in 2009.

”'Classic Ballard. Mesmerising. No one writes with such haunting impact” - William Boyd

”'A unique writer with a distinctive vision unmatched by any other living novelist. In The Day of Creation Ballard is at the height of his powers … triumphant” - New Statesman

”'An exciting plot unfolded with a master’s cunning. Ballard has brought off something rare in this fine book. He has written an adventure story that constantly surprises and excites” - Guardian

”'Absolutely vintage Ballard … Compulsively absorbing: the white heat of its images seems to burn off the page, and the surreal landscapes linger on in the mind” - Independent

”'It could only have been imagined by a master of visionary realism … a country of the mind as vivid and viable as anything this extraordinary writer has ever produced” - Spectator

”'The terrifying thing about Ballard is his logic; is this science fiction or history written ahead of its time?” - Len Deighton