About this title: NAKED LUNCH, the controversial masterpiece by Beat Generation founding father William S. Burroughs, has the distinction of being the last novel banned in the United States. Decried as obscene, the novel uses frank and extremely graphic depictions of drug use and sex as metaphors for the human condition: all of humanity, Burroughs feels, is victimized by some form of addiction. The fractured timeline follows Bill Lee (a name Burroughs occasionally used as a pseudonym) from New York to Tangiers and then into an alternate reality called the Interzone. Based on his own experiences as an addict ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Evergreen Black Cat, New York
Date Published: 1966
Description: Good. No Jacket as Issued. Ex-Library Ex-library with stamps to the bottom spine and both top and bottom edges. Sleeve to the inner front cover with tape shadows. Wear to the covers. Mild page toning. Otherwise clean. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780802130938ISBN:0802130933
Description: Poor. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. Glued binding loose, but book intact. Inscription inside front cover. read more
Edition: Later Printing
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780802132956ISBN:0802132952
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall 0802132952 Used. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Flamingo
Date Published: 1986-11-20
ISBN-13:9780586085608ISBN:0586085602
Description: Good. Clean unmarked pages. Wear to cover including creases, scuffs, light indentations and edge wear. Different cover art same book. Fast Ship! 100% Guaranteed Purchase! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Corgi Childrens
Date Published: 1968
ISBN-13:9780552079389ISBN:0552079383
Description: Very Good. Moderate shelf wear with moderate scuffing to cover, corners and edges. Minor age toning. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Grove Weidenfeld, New York
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780802132956ISBN:0802132952
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. xx, 255 pp.; 21 cm. First published, 1959. Tight, clean copy. Light shelfwear to wraps. Another copy available. "Naked Lunch is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century. Exerting its influence on the work of authors like Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, and William Gibson, on the relationship of art and obscenity, and on the shape of music, film, and media generally, it is one of the books that redefined not just literature but American culture. ... read more
Edition: 5th printing
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Grove Weidenfeld, New York
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780802132956ISBN:0802132952
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. xx, 255 pp.; 21 cm. First published, 1959. Near fine. Tight, clean copy. Age toning. "Naked Lunch is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century. Exerting its influence on the work of authors like Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, and William Gibson, on the relationship of art and obscenity, and on the shape of music, film, and media generally, it is one of the books that redefined not just literature but American culture. / One of this century's ... read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: New York, NY, U.S.A. : Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated, 1992
ISBN-13:9780802132956ISBN:0802132952
Description: Trade paperback, Fine Minus/pictorial wraps, 2nd Grove Weidenfeld printing (issued after movie was released); light wear and trace of creasing to covers and cover edges, small area of laminate loss to front cover where price sticker was removed, a nice copy with no names or markings inside, 8vo., 232 pages., read more
"I read this book because Burroughs shows up as Old Bull Lee in several of Kerouac's books, and I wanted to get a different perspective. What I got was a bombardment of the senses. I had to literally fight my way through this book, but by the end I started thinking of it like one big long joke, like "The Aristocrats" and I was able to stomach it much easier like that. To be honest, I am fascinated by this work, and I plan to read essays online and otherwise to find out more about this famous work of groundbreaking fiction that was once at war with our legal system, but I do not have a deep understanding of it after having read it. It is going to take a little more searching, and I like that in a book. But for now, back to Keourac I think, and it will be a breath of fresh air to read the once difficult language of ole Jacky boy from Lowell spouting about this and that, and changing directions in that New England drawl he delivers on paper. I had gotten used to it, even started thinking in it, and then I went and messed it all up by taking a break and picking up some other writers. Oh well, I'm broke right now, so I'm doomed to re-read a couple from the shelf, but I need to do some book reviews anyway, so se la vie..."
This book - what little I could stand reading of it - was a bewildering jumble of the undelineated thoughts and actions of the main character. Perhaps it is an accurate depiction of the mind under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs, but (or so) it was annoying, confusing and poorly written.
It reminded me of jokes about "Beat" poetry in the 50s - "Dirt, flower bed rocking horse jello, fly bird. Die bird. Coffee grounds, stabbed river oil moon".
How this book has been accorded such high regard is beyond my ken.
I know this is sacrilegious to those who love the Beat Generation's writers. Perhaps I have no appreciation for what some consider edgy, brilliant writing. I had anticipated that I would enjoy this book. I have wanted to read it for a very long time and finally got to it, only to be sorely disappointed.
As the little boy said when the king walked by, "Naked!""
"i don't think that it's his best book by any stretch -- i think that title belongs to junky or queer which hang together better and just have something in the writing that marks them above this. but then i still think the writing is brilliant in this book. sure, it is not an easy book and i am not surprised that it defeats so many people. i had to teach myself to read burroughs and this was nothing compared to the later cut-up technique books like nova express and the ticket that exploded. it is one of those books where the genesis is as, if not more, interesting than the book itself. it is a book that shifts around and doesn't stay the same from one reading to the next, which i find is true of a lot of burroughs work. this is hugely influential but i don't rate it for that. i genuinely like it. i like the characters, the skits, the way he writes, his approach to structure, and the wealth of ideas on display. you have to wade in past the reef of hype accrued like guano around the book and really dig in to it. you have to work for what's there but it's worth it. sure the sex can get a bit tiresome but it never made me want to put the book down because even those scenes were interlaced with other themes. it really is an important book and deserves everyone's attention."
"Ugh. I'm sure this is very brilliant and all, but it's extremely unpleasant to read. Physically repulsive, it's enough to scare anyone away from heroin, and yet, in some ways, it glorifies the experience in a self-indulgent way. Mind you, the book has no plot, and is just one drug-induced hallucination after another. It gets pretty boring after a while. Even extreme disgust gets old after about 50 pages. You're so numb after a few pages that Burrough's attempts to get nastier and nastier and shock more and more are mostly lost.
I'm still trying to figure out the literary value of stuff like this. Any English profs out there care to explain why this made it into the canon? I ask this in all seriousness - I really can't figure it out. Maybe it does belong on the list - in which case, I want to know the purpose of such lists.
I don't feel like I read this so much as survived it. You can bet I will not be reading the other two Burroughs novels on the 1001 books list. What do they take me for, some kind of masochist? So that means I only have to read 999 books, which is fine by me. Though I have a feeling that a couple of others on the list are going to turn me off in the same way.
I guess this is one you're supposed to read in the interests of being engaged in pop and drug culture, but my rec? Stay away. You don't want to be this engaged."
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