SIGNED IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION.

BALLARD, J. G. ~ Cocaine Nights. Signed by the author.

FIRST UK PRINTING. Flamingo, London: 1996.

8vo., black boards lettered in silver to spine with 'Flamingo' device to foot; bright red endpapers; together in the instantly recognisable silver dustwrapper (unclipped, £16.99 to front flap); THE BOOK near-fine, with just a couple of small bumps and marginal toning to the text block; THE WRAPPER, aside from a couple of very light scratches, fine. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. FIRST UK EDITION with full number line 1-9. This copy signed by Ballard in black felt pen to the title page, and dated 19/9/96. Ballard most commonly wrote in the post-apocalyptic or dystopian genres, mostly set in affluent communities. This, a relatively late work in his canon (like 'Super-Cannes', the work which immediately followed it), is no different, and takes as its focus the setting of a dystopian resort community, where perfect balance hides an array of dark secrets. Here, the plot revolves around British residents on the idyllic Spanish coastal resort of Estrella de Mar, where peaceful living is shattered by a mysterious house fire in which five people are killed, and the Club's manager is arrested for murder. "JG Ballard does not so much write novels as lightly fictionalised essays on the state of things", one Guardian reviewer writes, "And in an age of think-tank humbuggery this is a vision of what a communitarian dreamland would really look like...then what? asks Ballard. What happens when the boredom sets in? What do you do when the good life starts to look like a living death?" A wonderful copy in the distinctive dustwrapper.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Fine