Roadside Picnic

I tend to love SF that is smaller, more personal.... and set here on Earth. You'd almost never know this was written in the 70s, aside from some references to stenographers. But the problems that usually mar books from that time (bad technological predictions, rampant sexism, white savior tropes, and Cold War propaganda) are largely absent. Instead we get to know the hustlers who are just trying to get by in the wake of an alien visitation.