Hello America

Hello America
J. G. Ballard

A terrifying vision of the future from one of the twentieth century’s most renowned writers – J. G. Ballard, author of ‘Empire of the Sun’ and ‘Crash’.Following the energy crisis of the late twentieth-century America has been abandoned. Now, a century later, an expedition from Europe returns to the deserted continent. But America is unrecognisable – the Bering Strait has been dammed and the whole continent 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-continent journey, through Holiday Inns and abandoned theme parks. They will uncover a shocking new power in the heart of Las Vegas in this unique vision of our world transformed.This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Ned Beauman, Ali Smith, Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs.

J. G. BALLARD

Hello America

Copyright (#ulink_dce476df-f51c-532c-bf13-89ff25b1ac88)

Fourth Estate

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

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London W6 8JB

4thestate.co.uk (http://www.4thestate.co.uk)

This edition published by Fourth Estate in 2014

First published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape in 1981

Copyright © J. G. Ballard 1981

The right of J. G. Ballard to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

Introduction © Ben Marcus 2014

‘The Sage of Shepperton’ © Travis Elborough 2008

Author’s Note © J. G. Ballard 1994

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Cover by Stanley Donwood.

Photography by Hecate Moon.

Ebook Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN: 9780007346967

Version: 2014-07-11

Table of Contents

Cover (#u27d7e0ff-cd64-5cb8-9ef1-75c2b212f6a2)

Title Page (#uc6d64c41-db7e-589c-9063-8a2cdf541dd9)

Copyright (#u6a5718cf-06f1-50a3-b920-b18de4f43df8)

Author’s Note (#u7a9418ed-b338-54c7-86ce-14662a35184e)

Introduction by Ben Marcus (#ua9e50e06-3665-57b2-acba-af0fa9606164)

1 The Golden Coast (#ue3094f90-3e4b-53fb-948b-c682c97cfb71)

2 Collision Course (#u6d6fa869-8145-5bd0-8d70-e6a959861f60)

3 A Drowned Mermaid (#ud4c4283d-f00a-55e7-8aa7-88fff4efa234)

4 Secret Cargoes (#ub45e7506-10d9-5d45-8b05-b425bae1d15b)

5 To the Inland Sea (#u4c98dae5-79b7-5214-b7a5-28feef3b5af5)

6 The Great American Desert (#ub743d558-cb67-51d3-9919-40a438664718)

7 The Crisis Years (#ue1e9376c-3e4c-50fd-9fe8-ed71238fe9d6)

8 Thirstland (#u803277ab-bf4d-5b65-b596-9fcbe85ea3ac)

9 The Indians (#litres_trial_promo)

10 The Starship (#litres_trial_promo)

11 The Oval Office (#litres_trial_promo)

12 Camels and A-Bombs (#litres_trial_promo)

13 West (#litres_trial_promo)

14 Wayne’s Diary: Part One (#litres_trial_promo)

15 Giants in the Sky (#litres_trial_promo)

16 Rescue (#litres_trial_promo)

17 Across the Rockies (#litres_trial_promo)

18 The Electrographic Dream (#litres_trial_promo)

19 The Hughes Suite (#litres_trial_promo)

20 Wayne’s Diary: Part Two (#litres_trial_promo)