The renowned author of Empire of the Sun selects the best and most representative pieces of his short fiction, revealing the variety of his projections of twentieth-century technology in post-atomic worlds. Reprint First published in 1978, this collection of nineteen of Ballard's best short stories is as timely and informed as ever. His tales of the human psyche and its relationship to nature and technology, as viewed through a strong microscope, were eerily prescient and now provide greater perspective on our computer-dominated culture. Ballard's voice and vision have long served as a font of inspiration for today's cyber-punks, the authors and futurist who brought the information age into the mainstream. Introduction xi The Concentration City 1(20) Manhole 69 21(22) Chronopolis 43(24) The Voices of Time 67(33) Deep End 100(12) The Overloaded Man 112(13) Billennium 125(16) The Garden of Time 141(8) Thirteen for Centaurus 149(22) The Subliminal Man 171(18) The Cage of Sand 189(23) End Game 212(21) The Drowned Giant 233(11) The Terminal Beach 244(21) The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D 265(16) The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race 281(3) The Atrocity Exhibition 284(11) Plan for the Assassination of Jacqueline Kennedy 295(4) Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan 299