Stalking the Atomic City: Life Among the Decadent and the Depraved of Chornobyl

LIKE A REAL-LIFE TRAINSPOTTING, A RARE PORTRAIT OF THE DYSTOPIAN REALITY THAT IS CHORNOBYL TODAY AND THE PEOPLE WHO CALL THE EXCLUSION ZONE THEIR HOME Since the Chornobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986, the area remains a toxic, forbidden wasteland. The zone has become a place for meditation at the edge of geography where you can lose yourself. As with all dangerous places, this terra incognita attracts a wild assortment of adventurers who climb over the barbed wire illegally to witness the aftermath of catastrophe in the flesh. Breaking the law here is a pilgrimage: a metamodern sacred experience that coexists with thrash. Markiyan Kamysh, whose father worked as an on-site disaster liquidator of Chornobyl, works as a “stalker,” guiding people who dare to venture into the disaster area for thrills. Kamysh tells us about thieves who hide in the abandoned buildings, the policemen who chase them, and the romantic utopists who have built families here, even as deadly toxic waste lingers in the buildings, playgrounds, and streams. More than extraordinary guide to this alien world, Kamysh writes with a singular style that is both brash and bold, conferring an understated elegance to this dystopian reality. Complete with stunning photographs by the author, Stalking the Atomic City is a haunting account of what total autonomy could mean in our growingly fractured world.