Rushing to Paradise (Paperback, New Ed)

Veteran campaigner Dr. Barbara Rafferty's obsessive crusade to save the albatross on the Pacific atoll of Saint-Esprit gains international support when millions of T.V. viewers witness the shooting of her young acolyte Neil Dempsey. Soon Dr. Barbara turns the deserted island into a sanctuary – a remote paradise home for Neil, an odd team of eco-enthusiasts and idealists and a growing collection of the world's endangered species… As the extraordinary story unfolds in this acclaimed novel from the author of 'Empire of the Sun', 'Crash', and 'Super-Cannes', it soon becomes clear that some species are more in danger than others.

"Ballard is a magician of the contemporary scene and a literary saboteur. 'Rushing to Paradise' is a Wellsian drama of extremity and isolation… a parable about the ratlike behaviour of marooned human beings. No one else writes with such enchanted clarity or strange power."
GUARDIAN

"A subversive version of 'The Lord of the Flies'… Ballard's relentless intelligence and wildly irreverent, absurdist humour collaborate in creating comically satiric sequences. A body blow to the pretensions of our century."
IRISH TIMES

"A satisfyingly bizarre mixture of fantasy and fact… a dystopian vision of a paradise island overrun by a band of environmentalists."
SUNDAY TIMES

"'Robinson Crusoe' in reverse. Teasing and sardonic… Ballard at his best."
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY