The Complete Short Stories Book

Perfection! & indispensable--I must own it when I have enough cashola.

A "summer project" that took an eternity to "rip" through, "The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard" is an often-recommended collection of 96 little capsules of SF, horror & fantasy. If you want to become a writer (one who usually starts off writing superb short stories), then Ballard is your main man.

I thought of the cover page (of the American Edition) while trying to formulate a cohesive review (which I probably failed at already)--a monolith of a man staring straight at you and little dots floating around him, like atoms or molecules. No, I think they represent bubbles, as in EVERY SHORT STORY IS A BUBBLE THAT DEVIATES FROM THE FOUNTAIN-BRAIN-- some closely resemble reality, like mirrors, and some stray so far off that they seem galaxies away... but they all have an auteur's signature. Ballard, in each tale, immerses you into foreign (but not altogether alien) atmospheres where everything is authentic. All plots seem to be going on RIGHT NOW, somewhere else. His themes, well-tackled and fascinating, range from supremely male symbols: brand-name cars, airplanes, buildings, landscapes, motorcycles, mysterious femme fatales, overpopulation, rarely-sex and libido (strange for the man who wrote "Crash"!!!) to other themes: deserts, beaches, dunes, sand. Ballard at times is a kid playing with a train set, though his settings are enormous in scale-- Gotham cities. He plays with LEXICOGRAPHY in tales like "Notes Toward a Mental Breakdown", "The Terminal Beach" & "The Index"... which is always refreshing. There are killer enormous birds, dead astronauts, watches, jewels, hotel rooms, American cities of tourism...Las Vegas, Florida. Some of the bubbles seem to pop unexpectedly & almost prematurely, while others rove in the brain, persistent and glossy.

What Ballard's short stories are about: zero.

Trying to lasso the emptiness of everything is a majestic feat.

Since you asked here are the TOP 13 (therefore, essential) Short Stories of J.G. Ballard (I did the work for you, but they are not in particular order):

1)Chronopolis
2)Billenium
3)Studio 5, The Stars
4)Minus One
5)Time of Passage
6)The Air Disaster
7)The Life and Death of God
8)The Dead Time
9)The Intensive Care Unit
10)Love in a Colder Climate
11)The Secret History of World War III
12)The Enormous Space
13)The Largest Amusement Park in the World