Book summary

Critics have labeled Ballard's classic "pornographic"--both as criticism and as praise. It is the story of a man obsessed with sex who is drawn into a demimonde of individuals who combine car crashes and drugs with a variety of sexual acts. A disturbing document on the influence of technology and sexuality in culture, this is the first in a loose trilogy of novels--"Concrete Island" and "High Rise" are the other two--that examine Ballard's view of "modern life."