June 19, 2009
From our July
issue, Joanne McNeil profiles the life and legacy of dystopian
novelist J.G. Ballard, who recently died at the age of 78. As
McNeil writes, apart from maybe Samuel Beckett, no other modern
writer saw his ideas proliferate across so many platforms. Ballard
influenced filmmakers from David Cronenberg to Mary Harron. The
French philosopher Jean Baudrillard and the American critic Susan
Sontag were fans. Ed Ruscha quotes Ballard in one of his paintings.
Joy Division, Hawkwind, and even Madonna have alluded to his work
in their lyrics. There was an art show in Barcelona last year
entirely devoted to his life and ideas.
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