Books

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). 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. John Brownlee, "J. G. Ballad and the Psychosexual Appeal of Ronald Reagan", Wired, 2 March 2007.

Why I Want To Fuck Ronald Reagan is a short work by J. G. Ballard first published as a pamphlet in 1968. It is a piece of experimental fiction that presents a critique of American politics through an analysis of the presentation of President Ronald Reagan.