In one of the most profound and bestselling science fiction novels of all time Samuel R. Delany has produced a novel to stand with the best American fiction of the 1970s (Jonathan Lethem bestselling author of Fortress of Solitude). Bellona is a city at the dead center of the United States. Something has happened there.... The population has fled. Madmen and criminals wander the streets. Strange portents appear in the cloud-covered sky. Into this disaster zone comes a young man--poet lover and adventurer--known only as the Kid. Tackling questions of race gender and sexuality Dhalgren is a literary marvel and groundbreaking work of American magical realism.