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Kingdom Come: A Novel

by J. G. Ballard
Hardcover |English |0871404036 | 9780871404039

Kingdom Come: A Novel

by J. G. Ballard
Hardcover |English |0871404036 | 9780871404039
Overview
“Nobody ever hated the contemporary world with as much intensity and conviction as J.G. Ballard... InKingdom Come, Ballard's latest batch of preapocalyptic savages are happily clad in freshly ironed soccer jerseys and getting ready to fight for the only thing they believe in anymore — shopping at the Metro-Centre...[T]here's a lot of irony in Ballard.  If his late (and very funny) books sound peculiar to American ears, it's probably because of his very English tendency to play almost everything he says, however outrageous, at moderate to low volumes. Unlike the noisier, New Yorkerish avant-garde types who like to shock and awe their readers, Ballard doesn't shout or swear or get in your face. Even his most disturbing obscenities...are as mannered and concise and unimpassioned as a GPS device's soothing, digitally modulated voice describing how to reach the next gas station.” (Scott Bradfield -New York Times Book Review)“Starred Review. Ballard (1930–2009) creates a world reminiscent ofA Clockwork OrangeandV for Vendettain this novel of suburban fascism... Ballard writes brilliantly about the nightmarish underside of modern life, and this novel makes us poignantly aware of the loss of his voice.” (Kirkus Reviews)“An assassination, an uprising and masses of people rallying to defend their sacred dome from attack. The temple they’re ready to die for is the Metro-Centre shopping mall, which represents the only meaning in J. G. Ballard’s biting, surreal vision of suburban London. “Consumerism is the one thing that gives us our sense of values,” one local citizen says of the belief system he actually despises. (He turns out to be behind the putsch to reclaim their town from retailers.) The author of 18 novels includingEmpire of the Sun, Ballard, who died in 2009, is more funny than preachy; there’s a certain glee in his spite, as when he writes about the slain leader of these devoted shoppers, the talk-show host of the mall’s cable channel: “Only his hair survived, a blond mane lying across the phlegm-soaked pillow."” (New York Times)“Impressively packed with brilliant apercus.” (Observer)“Ballard, paradoxically, with all his characters gripped by obsession and necessity, is one of the great novelists of freedom.” (Financial Times)“Ballard guides us through this unsettling environment, an exaggerated version of modern Britain, with a sure hand. His sentences, almost anthropological in tone, indicate a boiling over of tension… This is a novel about crowds—Don DeLillo would tip his hat in recognition—and the economic and social conditions that can be used to manipulate them. If the characters inKingdom Comeseem indistinct by comparison; if David Cruise doesn’t quite seem worthy of “the pale aura of suburban fame” that surrounds him—well, perhaps it’s because from this remove, it’s difficult to understand why people would launch into a melee over a waffle iron or camp out for a cell phone. But these things do happen, every year, and Ballard’s novel is at its best when it takes this behavior to its most frightening, but strangely possible, extremes.” (Jacob Silverman -The Daily Beast)“No other writer so effectively alienates his readers—and his protagonists—from an everyday reality that he reveals to be shifting, often nightmarish terrain. At the same time, he soothes us. InKingdom Come, as in Ballard's short stories and in novels likeCrash, the rhythmical balance of the sentences has a tranquilizing effect, like the shushing roar of the ceaseless traffic on the motorway outside Brooklands…. In his final, elegiac vision of suburban apocalypse, Ballard once again allows us to imagine the unthinkable.” (Anna Mundow -Barnes and Noble)“...consumerism run amok deserves the pillorying it gets inKingdom Come. The connections Ballard finds between boredom and neo-fascism are fascinating and disturbing, and they are presented with an experienced satirist’s deft art.” (Tristan Deveney -The Millions)“This is the last book [Ballard] wrote before he died and both his most hilarious and his most terrifying, because it's about a racist middle-class revolt in the London suburbs that uncannily presage the rise of the real-life English Defense League, and also because the narrator is like an even more psychotic version of Richard Grant's character inHow to Get Ahead in Advertising.” (Leroy Gumption -VICE Magazine)
ISBN: 0871404036
ISBN13: 9780871404039
Author: J. G. Ballard
Publisher: Liveright
Format: Hardcover
PublicationDate: 2012-03-05
Language: English
Edition: First American Edition
PageCount: 320
Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
Weight: 17.6 ounces
“Nobody ever hated the contemporary world with as much intensity and conviction as J.G. Ballard... InKingdom Come, Ballard's latest batch of preapocalyptic savages are happily clad in freshly ironed soccer jerseys and getting ready to fight for the only thing they believe in anymore — shopping at the Metro-Centre...[T]here's a lot of irony in Ballard.  If his late (and very funny) books sound peculiar to American ears, it's probably because of his very English tendency to play almost everything he says, however outrageous, at moderate to low volumes. Unlike the noisier, New Yorkerish avant-garde types who like to shock and awe their readers, Ballard doesn't shout or swear or get in your face. Even his most disturbing obscenities...are as mannered and concise and unimpassioned as a GPS device's soothing, digitally modulated voice describing how to reach the next gas station.” (Scott Bradfield -New York Times Book Review)“Starred Review. Ballard (1930–2009) creates a world reminiscent ofA Clockwork OrangeandV for Vendettain this novel of suburban fascism... Ballard writes brilliantly about the nightmarish underside of modern life, and this novel makes us poignantly aware of the loss of his voice.” (Kirkus Reviews)“An assassination, an uprising and masses of people rallying to defend their sacred dome from attack. The temple they’re ready to die for is the Metro-Centre shopping mall, which represents the only meaning in J. G. Ballard’s biting, surreal vision of suburban London. “Consumerism is the one thing that gives us our sense of values,” one local citizen says of the belief system he actually despises. (He turns out to be behind the putsch to reclaim their town from retailers.) The author of 18 novels includingEmpire of the Sun, Ballard, who died in 2009, is more funny than preachy; there’s a certain glee in his spite, as when he writes about the slain leader of these devoted shoppers, the talk-show host of the mall’s cable channel: “Only his hair survived, a blond mane lying across the phlegm-soaked pillow."” (New York Times)“Impressively packed with brilliant apercus.” (Observer)“Ballard, paradoxically, with all his characters gripped by obsession and necessity, is one of the great novelists of freedom.” (Financial Times)“Ballard guides us through this unsettling environment, an exaggerated version of modern Britain, with a sure hand. His sentences, almost anthropological in tone, indicate a boiling over of tension… This is a novel about crowds—Don DeLillo would tip his hat in recognition—and the economic and social conditions that can be used to manipulate them. If the characters inKingdom Comeseem indistinct by comparison; if David Cruise doesn’t quite seem worthy of “the pale aura of suburban fame” that surrounds him—well, perhaps it’s because from this remove, it’s difficult to understand why people would launch into a melee over a waffle iron or camp out for a cell phone. But these things do happen, every year, and Ballard’s novel is at its best when it takes this behavior to its most frightening, but strangely possible, extremes.” (Jacob Silverman -The Daily Beast)“No other writer so effectively alienates his readers—and his protagonists—from an everyday reality that he reveals to be shifting, often nightmarish terrain. At the same time, he soothes us. InKingdom Come, as in Ballard's short stories and in novels likeCrash, the rhythmical balance of the sentences has a tranquilizing effect, like the shushing roar of the ceaseless traffic on the motorway outside Brooklands…. In his final, elegiac vision of suburban apocalypse, Ballard once again allows us to imagine the unthinkable.” (Anna Mundow -Barnes and Noble)“...consumerism run amok deserves the pillorying it gets inKingdom Come. The connections Ballard finds between boredom and neo-fascism are fascinating and disturbing, and they are presented with an experienced satirist’s deft art.” (Tristan Deveney -The Millions)“This is the last book [Ballard] wrote before he died and both his most hilarious and his most terrifying, because it's about a racist middle-class revolt in the London suburbs that uncannily presage the rise of the real-life English Defense League, and also because the narrator is like an even more psychotic version of Richard Grant's character inHow to Get Ahead in Advertising.” (Leroy Gumption -VICE Magazine)

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If you are shipping an item over $75, you should consider using a trackable shipping service or purchasing shipping insurance. We don’t guarantee that we will receive your returned item.

$14.65
Out of Stock
Overview
“Nobody ever hated the contemporary world with as much intensity and conviction as J.G. Ballard... InKingdom Come, Ballard's latest batch of preapocalyptic savages are happily clad in freshly ironed soccer jerseys and getting ready to fight for the only thing they believe in anymore — shopping at the Metro-Centre...[T]here's a lot of irony in Ballard.  If his late (and very funny) books sound peculiar to American ears, it's probably because of his very English tendency to play almost everything he says, however outrageous, at moderate to low volumes. Unlike the noisier, New Yorkerish avant-garde types who like to shock and awe their readers, Ballard doesn't shout or swear or get in your face. Even his most disturbing obscenities...are as mannered and concise and unimpassioned as a GPS device's soothing, digitally modulated voice describing how to reach the next gas station.” (Scott Bradfield -New York Times Book Review)“Starred Review. Ballard (1930–2009) creates a world reminiscent ofA Clockwork OrangeandV for Vendettain this novel of suburban fascism... Ballard writes brilliantly about the nightmarish underside of modern life, and this novel makes us poignantly aware of the loss of his voice.” (Kirkus Reviews)“An assassination, an uprising and masses of people rallying to defend their sacred dome from attack. The temple they’re ready to die for is the Metro-Centre shopping mall, which represents the only meaning in J. G. Ballard’s biting, surreal vision of suburban London. “Consumerism is the one thing that gives us our sense of values,” one local citizen says of the belief system he actually despises. (He turns out to be behind the putsch to reclaim their town from retailers.) The author of 18 novels includingEmpire of the Sun, Ballard, who died in 2009, is more funny than preachy; there’s a certain glee in his spite, as when he writes about the slain leader of these devoted shoppers, the talk-show host of the mall’s cable channel: “Only his hair survived, a blond mane lying across the phlegm-soaked pillow."” (New York Times)“Impressively packed with brilliant apercus.” (Observer)“Ballard, paradoxically, with all his characters gripped by obsession and necessity, is one of the great novelists of freedom.” (Financial Times)“Ballard guides us through this unsettling environment, an exaggerated version of modern Britain, with a sure hand. His sentences, almost anthropological in tone, indicate a boiling over of tension… This is a novel about crowds—Don DeLillo would tip his hat in recognition—and the economic and social conditions that can be used to manipulate them. If the characters inKingdom Comeseem indistinct by comparison; if David Cruise doesn’t quite seem worthy of “the pale aura of suburban fame” that surrounds him—well, perhaps it’s because from this remove, it’s difficult to understand why people would launch into a melee over a waffle iron or camp out for a cell phone. But these things do happen, every year, and Ballard’s novel is at its best when it takes this behavior to its most frightening, but strangely possible, extremes.” (Jacob Silverman -The Daily Beast)“No other writer so effectively alienates his readers—and his protagonists—from an everyday reality that he reveals to be shifting, often nightmarish terrain. At the same time, he soothes us. InKingdom Come, as in Ballard's short stories and in novels likeCrash, the rhythmical balance of the sentences has a tranquilizing effect, like the shushing roar of the ceaseless traffic on the motorway outside Brooklands…. In his final, elegiac vision of suburban apocalypse, Ballard once again allows us to imagine the unthinkable.” (Anna Mundow -Barnes and Noble)“...consumerism run amok deserves the pillorying it gets inKingdom Come. The connections Ballard finds between boredom and neo-fascism are fascinating and disturbing, and they are presented with an experienced satirist’s deft art.” (Tristan Deveney -The Millions)“This is the last book [Ballard] wrote before he died and both his most hilarious and his most terrifying, because it's about a racist middle-class revolt in the London suburbs that uncannily presage the rise of the real-life English Defense League, and also because the narrator is like an even more psychotic version of Richard Grant's character inHow to Get Ahead in Advertising.” (Leroy Gumption -VICE Magazine)
ISBN: 0871404036
ISBN13: 9780871404039
Author: J. G. Ballard
Publisher: Liveright
Format: Hardcover
PublicationDate: 2012-03-05
Language: English
Edition: First American Edition
PageCount: 320
Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
Weight: 17.6 ounces
“Nobody ever hated the contemporary world with as much intensity and conviction as J.G. Ballard... InKingdom Come, Ballard's latest batch of preapocalyptic savages are happily clad in freshly ironed soccer jerseys and getting ready to fight for the only thing they believe in anymore — shopping at the Metro-Centre...[T]here's a lot of irony in Ballard.  If his late (and very funny) books sound peculiar to American ears, it's probably because of his very English tendency to play almost everything he says, however outrageous, at moderate to low volumes. Unlike the noisier, New Yorkerish avant-garde types who like to shock and awe their readers, Ballard doesn't shout or swear or get in your face. Even his most disturbing obscenities...are as mannered and concise and unimpassioned as a GPS device's soothing, digitally modulated voice describing how to reach the next gas station.” (Scott Bradfield -New York Times Book Review)“Starred Review. Ballard (1930–2009) creates a world reminiscent ofA Clockwork OrangeandV for Vendettain this novel of suburban fascism... Ballard writes brilliantly about the nightmarish underside of modern life, and this novel makes us poignantly aware of the loss of his voice.” (Kirkus Reviews)“An assassination, an uprising and masses of people rallying to defend their sacred dome from attack. The temple they’re ready to die for is the Metro-Centre shopping mall, which represents the only meaning in J. G. Ballard’s biting, surreal vision of suburban London. “Consumerism is the one thing that gives us our sense of values,” one local citizen says of the belief system he actually despises. (He turns out to be behind the putsch to reclaim their town from retailers.) The author of 18 novels includingEmpire of the Sun, Ballard, who died in 2009, is more funny than preachy; there’s a certain glee in his spite, as when he writes about the slain leader of these devoted shoppers, the talk-show host of the mall’s cable channel: “Only his hair survived, a blond mane lying across the phlegm-soaked pillow."” (New York Times)“Impressively packed with brilliant apercus.” (Observer)“Ballard, paradoxically, with all his characters gripped by obsession and necessity, is one of the great novelists of freedom.” (Financial Times)“Ballard guides us through this unsettling environment, an exaggerated version of modern Britain, with a sure hand. His sentences, almost anthropological in tone, indicate a boiling over of tension… This is a novel about crowds—Don DeLillo would tip his hat in recognition—and the economic and social conditions that can be used to manipulate them. If the characters inKingdom Comeseem indistinct by comparison; if David Cruise doesn’t quite seem worthy of “the pale aura of suburban fame” that surrounds him—well, perhaps it’s because from this remove, it’s difficult to understand why people would launch into a melee over a waffle iron or camp out for a cell phone. But these things do happen, every year, and Ballard’s novel is at its best when it takes this behavior to its most frightening, but strangely possible, extremes.” (Jacob Silverman -The Daily Beast)“No other writer so effectively alienates his readers—and his protagonists—from an everyday reality that he reveals to be shifting, often nightmarish terrain. At the same time, he soothes us. InKingdom Come, as in Ballard's short stories and in novels likeCrash, the rhythmical balance of the sentences has a tranquilizing effect, like the shushing roar of the ceaseless traffic on the motorway outside Brooklands…. In his final, elegiac vision of suburban apocalypse, Ballard once again allows us to imagine the unthinkable.” (Anna Mundow -Barnes and Noble)“...consumerism run amok deserves the pillorying it gets inKingdom Come. The connections Ballard finds between boredom and neo-fascism are fascinating and disturbing, and they are presented with an experienced satirist’s deft art.” (Tristan Deveney -The Millions)“This is the last book [Ballard] wrote before he died and both his most hilarious and his most terrifying, because it's about a racist middle-class revolt in the London suburbs that uncannily presage the rise of the real-life English Defense League, and also because the narrator is like an even more psychotic version of Richard Grant's character inHow to Get Ahead in Advertising.” (Leroy Gumption -VICE Magazine)

Books - New and Used

The following guidelines apply to books:

  • New: A brand-new copy with cover and original protective wrapping intact. Books with markings of any kind on the cover or pages, books marked as "Bargain" or "Remainder," or with any other labels attached, may not be listed as New condition.
  • Used - Good: All pages and cover are intact (including the dust cover, if applicable). Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May include "From the library of" labels. Shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set case may be missing. Item may be missing bundled media.
  • Used - Acceptable: All pages and the cover are intact, but shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set case may be missing. Pages may include limited notes, highlighting, or minor water damage but the text is readable. Item may but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting, but the text cannot be obscured or unreadable.

Note: Some electronic material access codes are valid only for one user. For this reason, used books, including books listed in the Used – Like New condition, may not come with functional electronic material access codes.

Shipping Fees

  • Stevens Books offers FREE SHIPPING everywhere in the United States for ALL non-book orders, and $3.99 for each book.
  • Packages are shipped from Monday to Friday.
  • No additional fees and charges.

Delivery Times

The usual time for processing an order is 24 hours (1 business day), but may vary depending on the availability of products ordered. This period excludes delivery times, which depend on your geographic location.

Estimated delivery times:

  • Standard Shipping: 5-8 business days
  • Expedited Shipping: 3-5 business days

Shipping method varies depending on what is being shipped.  

Tracking
All orders are shipped with a tracking number. Once your order has left our warehouse, a confirmation e-mail with a tracking number will be sent to you. You will be able to track your package at all times. 

Damaged Parcel
If your package has been delivered in a PO Box, please note that we are not responsible for any damage that may result (consequences of extreme temperatures, theft, etc.). 

If you have any questions regarding shipping or want to know about the status of an order, please contact us or email to support@stevensbooks.com.

You may return most items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund.

To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it. It must also be in the original packaging.

Several types of goods are exempt from being returned. Perishable goods such as food, flowers, newspapers or magazines cannot be returned. We also do not accept products that are intimate or sanitary goods, hazardous materials, or flammable liquids or gases.

Additional non-returnable items:

  • Gift cards
  • Downloadable software products
  • Some health and personal care items

To complete your return, we require a tracking number, which shows the items which you already returned to us.
There are certain situations where only partial refunds are granted (if applicable)

  • Book with obvious signs of use
  • CD, DVD, VHS tape, software, video game, cassette tape, or vinyl record that has been opened
  • Any item not in its original condition, is damaged or missing parts for reasons not due to our error
  • Any item that is returned more than 30 days after delivery

Items returned to us as a result of our error will receive a full refund,some returns may be subject to a restocking fee of 7% of the total item price, please contact a customer care team member to see if your return is subject. Returns that arrived on time and were as described are subject to a restocking fee.

Items returned to us that were not the result of our error, including items returned to us due to an invalid or incomplete address, will be refunded the original item price less our standard restocking fees.

If the item is returned to us for any of the following reasons, a 15% restocking fee will be applied to your refund total and you will be asked to pay for return shipping:

  • Item(s) no longer needed or wanted.
  • Item(s) returned to us due to an invalid or incomplete address.
  • Item(s) returned to us that were not a result of our error.

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, please Contact Us with your order number and details about the product you would like to return. We will respond quickly with instructions for how to return items from your order.


Shipping Cost


We'll pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.). In other cases, you will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item. Shipping costs are non-refundable. If you receive a refund, the cost of return shipping will be deducted from your refund.

Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you, may vary.

If you are shipping an item over $75, you should consider using a trackable shipping service or purchasing shipping insurance. We don’t guarantee that we will receive your returned item.

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