Why I Want To Fuck Ronald Reagan.
BALLARD, J. G.
Published by Brighton: Unicorn Bookshop, 1968
Used
From
Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
AbeBooks Seller since July 26, 1999
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About this Item
Description:
First edition, first impression, one of 250 copies only, this copy signed by the author and numbered A69. The limitation states that 50 copies of the edition were signed and numbered by Ballard, but he is known to have signed and randomly numbered copies outside of the limitation. The Unicorn Bookshop was charged with obscenity for publishing the present work. It is written in the style of a scientific paper, presenting a series of experiments pertaining to the psychosexual appeal of Reagan. It was published 12 years prior to his election as president of the USA in 1980. Ballard was fascinated by Reagan's polished, camera-ready persona: "A complete discontinuity existed between Reagan's manner and body language, on the one hand, and his scarily simplistic far-right message on the other. Above all, it struck me that Reagan was the first politician to exploit the fact that his TV audience would not be listening too closely, if at all, to what he was saying, and indeed might well assume from his manner and presentation that he was saying the exact opposite of the words actually emerging from his mouth" (cited by Brownlee). John Brownlee, "J. G. Ballad and the Psychosexual Appeal of Ronald Reagan", Wired, 2 March 2007. Quarto. Original wire-stitched light blue silk-screened wrappers printed in red and blue, light blue paper stock. Front wrapper slightly foxed with tiny rust marks on outer edge, presumably from sometime being stored beside another stapled work, edges a little rubbed and creased with a few nicks, pencilled price on title page, remarkably fresh. A near-fine copy. Seller Inventory # 163193
Bibliographic Details
Title: Why I Want To Fuck Ronald Reagan.
Publisher: Brighton: Unicorn Bookshop, 1968
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition
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Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan.
Published by
[Brighton]: Unicorn Bookshop,, 1968
Used
Softcover
Seller: Jeff Maser, Bookseller - ABAA, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
First trade edition. [18 pp]. Fine in screen-printed wrappers. One of 200 (of 250) copies. Seller Inventory # 86616
Quantity: 1 available
Why I Want To Fuck Ronald Reagan
Published by
Unicorn Bookshop (Brighton), 1968
Used
Soft cover
First Edition
Seller: Ashton Rare Books ABA : PBFA : ILAB, Market Harborough, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. The First UK printing published as a pamphlet by the Unicorn Bookshop, Brighton, in 1968. One of just 250 copies of which the first 50 were signed and numbered by the author. This copy is unsigned and unnumbered. Quarto. Original silk screened wrappers. Stapled as issued. In near Fine condition with just a hint of toning to the spine. Housed in a custom solander box with gilt titling. This very scarce title is 'written in the style of a scientific paper and catalogues an apocryphal series of bizarre experiments intended to measure the psychosexual appeal of Ronald Reagan, who was then the Governor of California and candidate for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination'. A bookseller who sold the pamphlet was charged with obscenity In 1970. The pamphlet was added as an appendix to Doubleday's first American edition of 'The Atrocity Exhibition', which was destroyed prior to release. A Very scarce 'Ballard' title. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact. Seller Inventory # ABE-1506520741490
Quantity: 1 available
Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan
Published by
Unicorn Bookshop, Brighton, 1968
Used
First Edition
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. First edition. First edition, first printing. Publisher's white stapled wraps silkscreened in red and blue. One of 250 copies in the first printing, this copy unnumbered. Very Good, with wear and toning to wraps. Splits started at spine fold, though binding is solid. A short work written in the format of a scientific paper, undertaken to examine and determine the sexual appeal of then-governor and former Hollywood actor, Ronald Reagan. A scarce oddity in Ballard's oeuvre with a troubled printing history--the publisher was brought up on obscenity charges, and a 1970 attempt by Doubleday to include this as an appendix to Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition failed, as copies were destroyed before its release. Seller Inventory # 140937323
Quantity: 1 available
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Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan
Published by
Unicorn Books, Brighton
Used
Soft cover
First Edition
Seller: CASSIUS&Co., London, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. One would hardly think of Ballard as a product of the Sixties and yet this was one of his most productive decades. This is one of his rarest items, having been produced in a short run of only 250 by the legendary Unicorn Books in Brighton, England's answer to Ferlinghetti's City Lights. This is one the 200 unsigned copies. Seller Inventory # ABE-1663772483989
Quantity: 1 available
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Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan.
Used
Softcover
First Edition
Seller: Henry Sotheran Ltd, London, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Brighton: Unicorn Bookshop. 1968. 8vo. Wire-stitched white, silk-screened wrappers printed in red and blue; unpaginated; small brown stain to head of front wrapper and minimal rubbing to top and bottom of spine; otherwise near fine. Incredibly scarce first printing, one of 250 copies of which 50 are numbered and signed by the author. This is an unnumbered and unsigned one of the 50 as shown by the limitation statement left blank on the final page. Published 12 years before Reagan's election as president of the USA in 1980, The Unicorn Bookshop was accused of obscenity for their endorsement of this work. Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan is composed in the manner of a scientific paper and puts forward a number of experiments concerning the psychosexual appeal of Reagan, then Governor of California. The experimental "short story" would go on to be published in Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition (1970). In 1980, it was used as a political prank at the Republican National Convention at which Reagan was officially nominated for President and this rare pamphlet was one of the first to satirise the birth of new "Media Politicians". Ballard expressed that he was intrigued by the modern, then novelty, notion of the "Media Politician", those in power that held preference for advocating and performing policies that were at the benefit of their individual interests rather than that of their "audience". As he wrote in his preface to the 1990 edition of The Atrocity Exhibition, "it struck me that Reagan was the first politician to exploit the fact that his TV audience would not be listening too closely, if at all, to what he was saying, and indeed might well assume, from his manner and presentation, that he was saying the exact opposite of the words actually emerging from his mouth". Seller Inventory # 2121303
Quantity: 1 available
Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan.
Published by
Brighton Unicorn Bookshop, 1968
Used
Softcover
First Edition
Signed
Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
First edition, first printing, number 11 of 50 copies signed by the author, from a total edition of 250; 4to; title page printed in blue, unmarked internally; original wrappers printed in blue and red, stapled as issued, minor soiling and creasing to edges, else very good. One of 50 signed copies of Ballard's psycho-sexual political satire. Ballard's prescient short story, written in the guise of a scientific report to satirise the rise of celebrity politicians, was written at a time when Reagan was two years into his first term as Governor of California. Its publication led to an obscenity trial in 1968, but ended up being withdrawn from the trial as the only 3 copies in the shop were in fact sealed in an envelope for sending to a literary agent and not for sale; the rest of the stock was in London at the time. Bill Butler eventually closed the Unicorn Bookshop in 1973 when he moved to Wales, but Unicorn continued publishing there until 1977, the year he died. The limitation states that 50 copies of the edition were signed and numbered by Ballard, but he is known to have signed and randomly numbered copies outside of the limitation. The present copy, being number 11, is within the original signed limitation of 50 copies. Rare thus. Seller Inventory # 112061
Quantity: 1 available