     the atrocity exhibition is an experimental collection of "condensed novels" by british writer j. g. ballard. the book was originally published in the uk in 1970 by jonathan cape. after a 1970 edition by doubleday & company had already been printed, nelson doubleday, jr. personally cancelled the publication and had the copies destroyed, fearing legal action from some of the celebrities depicted in the book. thus, the first us edition was published in 1972 by grove press under the title love and napalm: export usa (isbn 0-394-48277-8). it was made into a film by jonathan weiss in 2001."thirsty man at the spigot": an interview with jonathan weiss a revised large format paperback edition, with annotations by the author and illustrations by phoebe gloeckner, was issued by re/search in 1990 (isbn 0-940642-18-2). the edition with annotations is now standard. all of the 1970 book originally appeared as stories in magazines before being collected. there is some debate on whether the book is an experimental novel with chapters or a collection of linked stories. with titles such as "plans for the assassination of jacqueline kennedy," "love and napalm: export usa," and "why i want to fuck ronald reagan," and by constantly associating the kennedy assassination with a sexual or sporting event, the work has maintained controversy, especially in the united states, where some considered it a slur on the dead president's image. ballard claimed that "it was an attempt for me to make sense of that tragic event." ==plot== the atrocity exhibition is split up into fragments, similar to the style of william s. burroughs, a writer whom ballard admired. burroughs, indeed, wrote the preface to the book. though often called a "novel" by critics, such a definition is disputed, because all its parts had an independent life. "why i want to fuck ronald reagan," for example, had three prior incarnations: in the international times, in ronald reagan: the magazine of poetr
1970_novels Jonathan_Cape_books Novels_about_the_John_F._Kennedy_assassination Novels_by_J._G._Ballard Postmodern_novels