J.G. Ballard “Vermilion Sands” Berkley Medallion 1971

📖 J.G. Ballard’s Vermilion Sands (1971, Berkley Medallion) — a collection of seven surreal science-fiction stories set in an imaginary desert vacation resort. This copy is the first Berkley Medallion paperback printing, 1971, with the original $0.75 cover price and series code B-31980; graded Very Good / Very Good+.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: J.G. Ballard (James Graham Ballard, 1930–2009), British writer
• Publisher: Berkley Medallion Books / Berkley Publishing Corporation, New York
• Year: 1971 (first US paperback printing)
• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 425-01980-2 | Series code: B-31980
• Condition: Very Good / Very Good+ — full report below

THE STORY

Vermilion Sands is Ballard’s most celebrated short-story cycle. Every story is set in the same fictional resort — a sun-bleached, decaying desert retreat that evokes Palm Springs and other California resorts — populated by the wealthy, the disaffected, and the parasites who feed on them. In his preface Ballard wrote that the collection “celebrates the neglected virtues of the glossy, lurid and bizarre.” A Times Literary Supplement review noted he paints “his desert in the manner of Dali, a mixture of appalling clarity and the exotic.”

THIS EDITION

This is the first Berkley Medallion paperback printing (1971), the early American edition. It carries the original 75¢ cover price, series code B-31980, and ISBN 425-01980-2. Note that this early US printing contains seven stories; “The Singing Statues” was omitted from the first American editions and appears only in later printings.

CONTENTS (as printed in this edition)

• A Thousand Dreams of Stellavista — p. 7
• Cry Hope, Cry Fury! — p. 49
• Venus Smiles — p. 69
• Studio 5, The Stars — p. 86
• The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D — p. 127
• Say Goodbye to the Wind — p. 147
• The Screen Game — p. 164

COVER ART / DESIGN

The cover is a bold abstract composition in deep reds and blacks with gold accents, depicting distorted, melting forms that dissolve into a surreal landscape — a fitting visual for Ballard’s decaying resort. The spine reads “A BERKLEY MEDALLION BOOK” with the imprint’s fleur-de-lis mark, and the front cover carries the tagline “By the author of The Drowned World and The Voices of Time.”

WHY IT MATTERS

• Vermilion Sands is a landmark of 1970s literary science fiction, central to Ballard’s reputation as a writer of psychological “inner space” fiction.
• Each story turns on a different art form — architecture, painting, sculpture, poetry, cloud-sculpture, fashion, and screens — giving the cycle its distinctive baroque playfulness.
• The early US Berkley Medallion printing is sought by collectors; the 75¢ price and B-31980 code identify it as a first-state American edition.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? First Berkley Medallion paperback, 1971 — the early US printing (seven stories).

What condition is it in? Very Good / Very Good+; full report below.

Is it signed? No — an unsigned first-state paperback.

FOR COLLECTORS

A clean, tight copy of Ballard’s most iconic story cycle in its original 1971 Berkley Medallion state. The 75¢ price and B-31980 code make this a verifiable early American printing.

Condition Report

• Overall Grade: Very Good (VG)/Very Good+ (VG+)
• Cover & Spine: Vibrant cover illustration with minimal shelf-wear. Spine and covers have some minor chips along edges. Back cover upper corner has a small color breaking crease
• Text Block & Pages: Uniformly cream colored; paper remains supple. No significant tanning.
• Binding: Square and tight, no signs of spine roll or loose signatures.

See accompanying images for full condition details. Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

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