The Road

The post-apocalyptic modern classic with an introduction by novelist John Banville.

In a scorched America, a father and his young son slowly make their way toward the coast under a darkened sky. They have no idea what awaits them there, if anything at all. The landscape is devastated, nothing moves except the ash in the wind, and cruel, lawless men lurk by the roadside. To survive in this brave new world, the young boy and his protector have only one gun to defend themselves. They must keep moving.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, The Road is a searing novel, the story of an extraordinary and profoundly moving journey. In this unflinching study of the best and worst of humanity, Cormac McCarthy boldly imagines a future without hope, in which this young family, against all odds, finds tenderness.

An example of post-apocalyptic writing, The Road is a true modern classic, a masterful, moving, and increasingly prophetic novel.

This edition is part of the Picador Collection, a new list of the best contemporary literature being published in Picador's 50th anniversary year. McCarthy's highly anticipated new novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris, will be published by Picador in October 2022.