Synopses & Reviews
Following the energy crisis of the late twentieth century, America has been abandoned. Now, a century later, a small group of European explorers returns to the now climatically mutated continent. But America is unrecognizable—the Bering Strait has been dammed and much of the country has become a desert, populated by isolated natives and the bizarre remnants of a disintegrated culture. The expedition sets off from Manhattan on a cross-country journey, through Holiday Inns and abandoned theme parks, to uncover a shocking new power in the heart of Las Vegas.
Review
"A mythically resonant epic journey…a joy—witty, playful, moving, mythic, poetic." Literary Review
Review
"Enter Mr Ballard's worlds and you become entranced in a séance difficult to break out of, so powerful is his method." The Times (London)
Synopsis
Following an energy crisis in the late twentieth century, America has been abandoned. Now, a century later, a small group of European explorers returns to an unrecognizable continent populated by isolated natives and the bizarre remnants of a disintegrated culture in this surreal cross-country journey from the “terrifying and exhilarating imagination” (Guardian) of J.G. Ballard.
Synopsis
"This fable lifts a great freight of ideas effortlessly…The story of an expedition driven on by wishes of possession and power but guided internally by myths of America whose sources lie in the late 20th century." —Guardian
About the Author
J.G. Ballard was born in Shanghai in 1930 and lived in England from 1946 until his death in London in 2009. He is the author of nineteen novels, including Empire of the Sun, The Drought, and Crash, with many of them made into major films.