photo by Scott Beale
Last night V. Vale of RE/Search hosted a round robin reading from his new book “J.G. Ballard: Quotes” at the legendary City Lights Books in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. Quotes from the book were read by (from L-R in the above photo) David Pescovitz (Boing Boing), Joe Donohoe, Eric Paulos, Karen Marcelo (SRL), Mark Pauline (SRL), Ken Goffman (aka RU Sirius) and SM Gray. Vale (on the right with the mic) even had a special surprise to open the night, a recorded greeting by J.G. Ballard, that Vale taped from a phone call made earlier in the day to Ballard at his home in Shepperton, England.
Here are a few photos I shot of this event.
I highly recommend picking up a copy of “J.G. Ballard: Quotes” which can be ordered directly through the RE/Search Publications online store. Even if you are not familiar with Ballard’s work, the J.G. Ballard quotes book that V. Vale assembled is a wonderfully insightful and often humorous look at our culture, society and what the future has in store for us.
Finally, here’s a J.G. Ballard quote on the “internet” from the book:
“Twenty years ago no one could have imagined the effects the Internet would have: entire relationships flourish, friendships prosper…there’s a vast new intimacy and accidental poetry, not to mention the weirdest porn. The entire human experience seems to unveil itself like the surface of a new planet.” [Pretext, 2004]
Photo Gallery: J.G. Ballard: Quotes
