Vermilion Sands

First published as a paperback original by Berkley Books in 1971, Vermilion Sands is a cycle of interconnected short stories set entirely within the titular resort, a decaying futuristic desert enclave populated by forgotten film stars, eccentric artists, and wealthy drifters. Unlike Ballard’s more overtly violent dystopian works, these stories explore what he termed a “technological pastoral,” a world defined by aesthetic obsession, creative stagnation, and terminal leisure. Notable inclusions include “Prima Belladonna” (1956), which introduces the resort’s signature flora of singing orchids, and “The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D” (1967), in which glider pilots carve immense portraits into the sky. The expanded British hardcover edition published by Jonathan Cape in 1973 adds the story “The Singing Statues,” which was not included in the earlier American paperback.

This collection includes: “Prima Belladonna” (1956), “The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista” (1962), “Cry Hope, Cry Fury!” (1966), “Venus Smiles” (1957), “Studio 5, The Stars” (1961), “The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D” (1967), “Say Goodbye to the Wind” (1970), “The Screen Game” (1962), and “The Singing Statues” (1962, included in the British hardcover edition only).

Hardcover. First British Edition, First Printing. Octavo, blue cloth covered boards, with gold lettering on spine. London: Jonathan Cape, 1973. ISBN: 0224008943. #10617.
Fine in fine dust jacket.