Off the Beaten Track : Stories by Russian Hitchhikers

This book by and about Russian hitchhikers will take the reader along the endless roads of Siberia, the Urals, the Altai, Central Russia and beyond. Included are Irina Bogatyreva's short novel Hitchhiking, Igor Savelyev's Pale City, and Tatiana Mazepina's Journey towards Paradise - all winners of the Debut Prize. These hitchhikers call themselves "e;the last generation of free travelers"e; - they feel that the world is becoming increasingly more uniform and comfortable and therefore less interesting, and so they hasten to make the most of the places at the back of beyond. Jack Kerouac is their guru; only on the road do they ever feel really free.