Vollmann is the ultimate maximalist writer, from his unfinished Seven Dreams series to his most recent non-fiction No Immediate Danger and No Good Alternative: volumes one and two of Carbon Ideologies (1,400 pages), Vollmann produces a lot and then produces some more. But he is also a consummate short story writer. ‘The Prophet of the Road’ is his usual mixture of reportage and fiction. Vollmann is a brave writer and this story exemplifies his syncretic style.

In The Atlas, Viking Penguin, 1996. Online here