Sometimes, a reader understands a book perfectly. Acclaimed writer Simon Sellars, author most recently of Code Beast (Wanton Sun, 2023) and Applied Ballardianism: Memoir From a Parallel Universe (Urbanomic, 2018) sent his thoughts on The Moth for the Star (September, 7.13 Books). I’ve been an admirer of his work, particularly since his editorship of Extreme Metaphors: Interviews with J.G. Ballard for Fourth Estate in 2012, so it was a genuine pleasure to receive his endorsement of the novel.
The Moth for the Star is a triumph. It evokes the Depression era with a stylized, enervated elegance, and argues that the past is another planet: exotic, alien and inhospitable. The exquisite writing shines with diamond-cut brilliance, and the cumulative effect is uncanny, revealing a damaged world where reality has been fatally upended.
—Simon Sellars, author of Applied Ballardianism: Memoir From a Parallel Universe and Code Beast