BALLARD'S DARK VISION

   J.G.Ballard may not have courted controversy. But the style and subject matter of his work just seemed to attract it. After years of writing short stories and novels noted for their dark visions and ambiguity, Ballard caused a major explosion with a series of stories called The Atrocity Exhibition. The U.S. edition was printed in 1970 but destroyed by the publisher when an executive panicked after reading Ballard’s descriptions of such real people as the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe, and Ronald Reagan. Ballard was unfazed and continued to write controversial works, including the novel Crash. After reading that work, one reader commented, "The author of this book is beyond psychiatric help. "It wasn't until a decade later that Ballard found an appreciative audience. Empire of the Sun, directed by Steven Spielberg, was a film based on Ballard's childhood experiences in Shanghai during World War II. It provided clues about the writer's psyche and motivation. And it brought Ballard a whole new readership.