THE KINDNESS OF WOMEN

London, England: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. London, England: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 286 pages. The author's second autobiographical novel. The sequel to his great novel, "Empire of The Sun". The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the American Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents J. G. Ballard's "The Kindness of Women". Takes up where his beloved autobiographical novel leaves off. A telling portrait of the postwar years, it is notable for its searingly honest, sexually explicit yet surprisingly tender story of one man's extraordinary encounters with women and the sexual and emotional role they played in his formation as an adult. As such, it is Ballard, ever so prescient about radical (as well as incremental) change taking place in society, writing as a full-fledged feminist in the guise of "confessional" literature. If "Empire of The Sun", based entirely upon James ("Jim") Graham Ballard's harrowing childhood during the Second World War, was essentially about his "coming-of-age" and premature leap into adulthood, "The Kindness of Women" is about his precocious education as a virile but shy young man from older, more experienced, and kinder (that is, more worldly-wise) women, hailed by critics as J. G. Ballard's contemporary answer to Flaubert's "Sentimental Education". "One of the most intelligent voices in contemporary literature" (Susan Sontag) . J. G. Ballard died on April 19, 2009 at the age of 78, the last of the great visionary writers of our time. An absolute "must-have" title for J. G. Ballard collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in blue ink-pen on the title page by J. G. Ballard. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a late-modern classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. J. G. Ballard's "The Day of Creation" was selected as one of the "One Hundred Best Novels of Modern Fantasy" by David Pringle. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER J. G. BALLARD TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0002237717.