J.G. Ballard - Helló Amerika!

In 2114, a small expedition lands in New York aboard the steamer Apollo. Their mission is to find out what is causing the sudden rise in radioactivity in the continent's big cities. At that point, America had been a dead, depopulated wasteland for more than a century: crushed by the oil crisis and large-scale climate change led by the Soviets and Europeans. As soon as the small group steps ashore, the surreal journey through the bizarre landscapes and the psyche of the members of the expedition begins: they all arrive with hidden desires and dreams that only America can make come true.
J.G. Ballard, the author of Tower House, Empire of the Sun, and Carnage, presents a captivating vision of post-collapse America in this dystopian adventure and travel novel. The ghosts of John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Charles Manson, Nixon and Lincoln are evoked, and we get a hearty taste of all genres, from desert adventure to classic westerns to jungle warfare. Ballard, the great storyteller of the desolate landscapes of the human psyche, does not remain in debt this time either - neither with the unexpected twists, nor with the almost palpably alive landscapes and atmosphere.