Naked Lunch (or The Naked Lunch) is a novel written by William S. Burroughs. Released in 1959, it tells the disjointed and surrealist adventures of a spy for a mysterious agency. The novel is somewhat infamous for its depictions of various taboo subjects.
Characters[]
- William Lee - a junkie
- A.J. - a Factualist
- Hassan - a Liquefactionist
- Doctor Benway - a sociopathic former ruler
- Bill Gains - a friend of William's
rest to be added
Publisher's summary[]
Naked Lunch is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century, a book that redefined literature. A startling tale of a narcotics addict unmoored in New York, Tangier, and ultimately a nightmarish wasteland known as Interzone, its formal innovation, taboo subject matter, and virtuoso style have exerted a significant influence on authors like Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, William Gibson, and Will Self, as well as on music, film, and the media generally. This restored edition incorporates Burroughs’s notes on the text, several essays he wrote about the book, and an appendix of new material and alternate drafts from the original manuscript. For the Burroughs enthusiast and the neophyte, this volume is a definitive and fresh experience of this classic of our culture.
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gravity's Rainbow | Thomas Pynchon | 1973 | A novel with a somewhat similar plot |
| Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas | Hunter S. Thompson | 1971 | A novel with a similar focus on drugs |
| The Atrocity Expedition | J.G. Ballard | 1970 | A collection of short stories with similar themes |
| Confessions of an English Opium-Eater | Thomas de Quincey | 1821 | Another book about drug addiction which possibly inspired this novel |
| The Doors of Perception | Aldous Huxley | 1954 | A nonfiction book detailing its author's experiences with mescaline |
| Tropic of Cancer | Henry Miller | 1934 | A novel which had a somewhat similar reaction on release |
| Virtual Light | William Gibson | 1993 | A novel with somewhat similar themes |
| Lady Chatterley's Lover | D.H. Lawrence | 1928 | A novel which had a somewhat similar reaction on release |