Naked Lunch

Book Description

Critics

• Book review: William S. Burroughs' *Naked Lunch: 50th Anniversary Edition*

  Naked Lunch: 50th Anniversary Edition William S. Burroughs Grove Press Hardcover 320 pages November 2009 You enter the moment of the “naked lunch” when you realize just what that is quivering at the end of your fork. We’ve been staring at that living ... (read full critics)

  curledup published on Tue, 7 Sep 2010

• Déjeuner sur l’Herbe

  “You can cut into The Naked Lunch at any intersection point,” says Burroughs, suiting the action to the word, in “an atrophied preface” he appends as a tail-piece. His book, he means, is like a neighborhood movie with continuous showings that you can ... (read full critics)

  nybooks published on Sat, 21 Aug 2010

5 Reviews

• 3 people find this helpful

  

  What little is comprehensible is disgusting.

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  Mat F. said on Apr 28, 2010 | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  Generally, pretty traumatic!

  What I liked most about this book, and what made me get into it in the first place, were the excerpts from the 'morality' trail and controversy surrounding the book and its author. Given at the start it acts almost as a disclaimer for the events that follow. Intentionally, or not, it guides the read ... (continue)

  What I liked most about this book, and what made me get into it in the first place, were the excerpts from the 'morality' trail and controversy surrounding the book and its author. Given at the start it acts almost as a disclaimer for the events that follow. Intentionally, or not, it guides the reader.

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  Katelyn said on Jan 29, 2009 | Add your feedback

• I couldn't help but give it up.
  Perhaps my not perfect english doesn't help,but honestly I don't think very much of a situation where I have to read a page two or three times to start figuring out what's written on it...

  The film was crazy as well but I could cope with it pretty well, maybe if I tr ... (continue)

  I couldn't help but give it up.
  Perhaps my not perfect english doesn't help,but honestly I don't think very much of a situation where I have to read a page two or three times to start figuring out what's written on it...

  The film was crazy as well but I could cope with it pretty well, maybe if I try the bokk first translated and then again in english, I could understand it better...
  Sooner or later I'll do it.

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  Gingillo said on Sep 18, 2011 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Starts hard. Will see how it continues...

  09-04-2011 - I found this very difficult to read. I have tried many books about junkies and their shattered lives, but this is so gross, that I just want to forget everything I read as soon as possible.

  07-18-2011: It is as gross as I imagined it would be: all those junkies destroying themselves, d ... (continue)

  09-04-2011 - I found this very difficult to read. I have tried many books about junkies and their shattered lives, but this is so gross, that I just want to forget everything I read as soon as possible.

  07-18-2011: It is as gross as I imagined it would be: all those junkies destroying themselves, doing things one can barely imagine. I absolutely have to read this book because I owe it to myself since long time ago.

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  ariadna73 said on Jul 19, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  The Stuff On The End Of Your Fork...

  Surreal beauty mixed in with an equal measure of wretchedness and spit. Note that it made it onto the list of Time magazine's Top 100 Novels Of All-Time, which is not something to sniff at.

  I initially found the book a little bewildering as far as the overall plot went but specific passages an ... (continue)

  Surreal beauty mixed in with an equal measure of wretchedness and spit. Note that it made it onto the list of Time magazine's Top 100 Novels Of All-Time, which is not something to sniff at.

  I initially found the book a little bewildering as far as the overall plot went but specific passages and bits I did understand were very much worth it. The author wrote this book not entirely lucid and it shows, but what a beautiful craziness it is! For those who love heavy imagery and very creative writing one cannot do much better than this little book - it will never grow old and is an established classic. Certain images and descriptions will stay with you always.

  I also recommend that David Cronenberg's movie adaption is watched - it actually made a whole lot more sense out of the book for me, sort of like reading and loving a Shakespearean play but being overwhelmed by its true meaning once seen performed on stage. You should be able to tell by reading the first page of the story whether you will like the book or not.

  The author introduces this edition with a personal overview of drugs and society, and explains what it is about drugs that is dangerous: the hysteria surrounding them, their illegality which props up the "junk pyramid" and supports an underground of pushers - the real villains in the story.

  There is also an appendix where Burroughs gives a very thorough overview of his experiences of the effects and interactions of his drug-taking. He covers a vast array of substances and provides a rare personal insight that only a junky of many decades may deliver. This appendix, I believe, is an invaluable contribution to our knowledge store of the phenomenon of human drug-taking.

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  Ramnagel said on Jun 13, 2009 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 304 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0802140181
• ISBN-13: 9780802140180
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Pub date: Jan 26, 2004
• Dimensions: 1355 mm x 903 mm x 129 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette and Others
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani

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