Böcker av Paul March-Russell

J.G. Ballard's Crash (1973) remains a byword for transgression in literature: declared 'too disgusting for words' upon publication. The basis for David Cronenberg's equally provocative film, Crash has been regarded variously as the apotheosis of New Wave science fiction, the ur-source for postmodernism, a transhumanist manifesto, and a pornographic masterpiece in the tradition of Sade and Bataille. This revisionist account, based on previously unexplored archive material, shatters the myths that have accrued around this tantalising work whilst also revealing why it continues to inspire writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers in the 21st century. The book vividly reconstructs how Ballard came to write Crash, the cultural landscape in which it was written, the effect of its reception, and the toll it took on its author. New perspectives reveal how Crash reworks surrealist anthropology, evolutionary theory, and pornographic imagery in order to expose a society addicted to the abuse of power, the silencing of others, and its own environmental destruction. As Ballard later admitted, he 'must have been mad' to write Crash.

Rendezvous with Arthur C. Clarke explores the author's representations of gender and sexuality, his location within post-war science fiction, his engagement with religion and ecology, his influence on such writers as Iain M. Banks, Stephen Baxter and Liu Cixin, and his enduring legacy through the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction. We follow his imagination and thought from the depths of the ocean to the moons of Jupiter and, indeed, beyond the infinite --

This book puts the short story at the heart of contemporary postcolonial studies and questions what postcolonial literary criticism may be. Focusing on short fiction between 1975 and today - the period in which critical theory came to determine postcolonial studies - it argues for a sophisticated critique exemplified by the ambiguity of the form.

This new general introduction emphasises the importance of the short story to an understanding of modern fiction. In twenty succinct chapters, the study paints a complete portrait of the short story - its history, culture, aesthetics and economics.