Maybe the next one, darling

The writer J.G. Ballard has died. The film version of his novel Crash (directed by David Cronenberg) was the first movie I'd ever been to, at age 17, where people walked out of the theater (the second, a few years later, was Secretary), and it was then that I truly understood the awesome power of art to transform people and situations. I've always meant to read the book, and this is as good a moment as any.