Rick McGrath

Deep Ends Rick McGrath Anthology edition

Publisher Marketing: Introducing "Deep Ends: The J. G. Ballard Anthology 2014," a 200-page, full-size, full-colour collection of work by and about J. G. Ballard. "Deep Ends" features an ultra-rare 1980 prose-poem by JGB called "Crystal of the Sea," discovered as the Foreword to an obscure Japanese photo book, plus previously-unpublished articles by Bea Ballard and Iain Sinclair, plus a long and extraordinary interview with Fay Ballard by David Pringle. But wait, there's more! The book's contents include: J. G. Ballard's symbolic essay, "Crystal of the Sea" Bea Ballard's heartfelt homage: "Miracle Father" David Pringle's great interview: "Memories of Life: Conversation with Fay Ballard" Ana Barrado's highly Ballardian photos of south Florida: "Neotropic Cyphers" Raymond Tait's fascinating history: "J. G. Ballard at The Leys School, Cambridge, 1946 to 1949" Mike Bonsall's imaginative journey: "Mind-Mapping The Terminal Beach" D. Harlan Wilson's rather unbelievable essay: "Geometry of Mourning" Russell Cuzner's interview with Andy Sharp of English Heretic about JGB's use of magic. Umberto Rossi's analysis of "War Fever" and "Theatre of War," called "Is the War Inside Your Mind?" Mike Holliday's "J. G. Ballard and the Vicissitudes of Time" examines "News From the Sun," "Memories of the Space Age" and "Myths of the near Future" Lawrence Russell recalls creating 30-minute radio plays of "The Dead Astronaut" and "Question of Re-Entry" for the CBC in his remembrance "Brain Scan of a Dead Script Writer" Paul Green offers a reverie of his favourite JGB short story in "Dreaming of the Towers" Dominika Oramus fuses Ballard and Baudrillard in her topical essay, "War on Satellite TV in the Stories of J. G. Ballard" Pippa Tandy does film analysis in "Personal Mythologies: An Account of James Runcie's 'Shanghai Jim'" Bernard Sigaud goes fetishistic in "Piping Hot and Softly Blowing" Feroze Alam imagines Balard in nine paintings: "Landscapes of the Dream" Iain Sinclair gives us a geographic history of a life-size Ballard cut-out, complete with many photos, in his quite entertaining psycho-essay, "Thin Man Walking" Christopher Cokinos gives us his book review of "A User's Guide to the Millennium" in "Book Review, Meet J. G. Ballard" Rick McGrath talks JGB and movies with filmmaker Solveig Nordlund Dan Mitchell shows us ]his surreal poster: "Zodiac Hilton" Pedro Groppo delves into the cinematic deep with "Toy Planes, Home and Hearth: Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun" Peter Brigg goes to the bottom of "The Drowned World" Christopher Cokinos is very funny with his Ballardian pastiche, "Why I Want to Fuck Rupert Murdoch" Umberto Rossi lists them all in the "J. G. Ballard Secondary Bibliography" The book also features five "Advertiser's Announcements" -- ersatz copies of the five famous "Atrocity Exhibition" advertisements Ballard made for Ambit magazine -- created by Will Shutes of the Test Centre and Traven T. Crowes. "Deep Ends" also, for the first time, features content from three Ballards at once. Plus the opportunity to read a new Ballard essay uncovered only last year. It's an amazing collection from a collection of amazing writers."