Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those young rebels who are compelled, in spite
of extreme danger, to venture illegally into the Zone to collect the mysterious
artifacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated
by the place and the thriving black market in the alien products. But when he an
d his friend Kirill go into the Zone together to pick up a "full empty," somethi
ng goes wrong. And the news he gets from his girlfriend upon his return makes it
inevitable that he'll keep going back to the Zone, again and again, until he fi
nds the answer to all his problems. First published in 1972, "Roadside Picnic" i
s still widely regarded as one of the greatest science fiction novels, despite t
he fact that it has been out of print in the United States for almost thirty yea
rs.
