Review by Booklist Review
A deleted section of Naked Lunch (1959) is the greatest but not the most rewarding attraction here. Of great value as an Ur-text of the full- fledged Burroughsian rant, ``Word'' consists entirely of his patented apocalyptic, coprophilic, phallocentric, homoerotic addiction-fantasizing. Perhaps even for dedicated Burroughsians, it's wearying. The rest of the collection, short stories and journal excerpts older than ``Word,'' are more enjoyable. Mostly contemporary to Burroughs' early, realist novels, Junky [BKL My 15 77] and Queer [BKL O 1 85], they mine the same vein of mordant humor and sharply delineate the addictions to heroin and sex that are the central metaphors of his work. The even earlier ``Twilight's Last Gleamings'' is a prototype of Burroughs' ``routines''-- rowdy black-comic tirades that well might please a latter-day Mark Twain. As with all of Burroughs' fiction, only the brave deserve it. RO.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Burroughs seems to grow ever more trite with the passage of time, his rebellion against society a lame thing. Fans will probably enjoy this fragmentary collection of letters, journal entries, stories and autobiographical sketches from the mid-1950s. In style the pieces range from straightforward sociological descriptions of Tangier, where he has dope and young boys, to Kafkaesque fables (``Dream of the Penal Colony'') to surreal, manic pastiche. In another story, the protagonist cuts off the joint of his little finger, then pops into his psychiatrist's office and makes light of his condition. The centerpiece is ``WORD,'' a long, hitherto unpublished section from the working manuscript ( Interzone ) that eventually became the novel Naked Lunch. Rediscovered in 1984, ``WORD'' is a hipster's incoherent cosmic rant, sexually wild and often deliberately offensive. Burroughs's sense that we are all specters in a waking nightmare, so dominant in his recent fiction, is prefigured here in a futuristic sketch of a nameless U.S. city wracked by forces of evil and repression. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
``Interzone'' was the working title of Burroughs's Naked Lunch , the bulk of which was written in the international zone of Tangier. The material in this collection is divided into three sections: ``Stories,'' ``Lee's Journal,'' and ``Word.'' The stories, including ``Twilight's Last Gleaming,'' are more realistic than Burroughs's later work, drawing heavily on autobiographical experiences and recalling the hard-boiled detective style of Junky and Queer. ``Lee's Journals'' contains sketches, routines, and notebook entries from the mid-1950s. ``Word,'' a long, rambling, scatological piece cut from the original manuscript of Naked Lunch , is of value chiefly as a historical curiosity. While this book will have little effect on Burrough's reputation, it will be welcomed by his growing readership.-- William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Reading this collection of Burroughs' unpublished work from 1953 to 1958, ""you are present at the beginning"" of his career, as his editor gushes. When finished, though, you're much less certain you wanted to be there, for these fugitive pieces of mostly questionable merit will interest only dedicated Burroughs fans. Except for an amateurish story co-written in college (""Twilight's Last Gleamings""), the writings collected here fall between Burroughs' first novel, Junky--a straightforward account of life as a drug addict--and Naked Lunch, the wild anti-novel that eventually brought him fame. Anyone who's read Ted Morgan's recent, adulatory biography (Literary Outlaw, p. 1452) will recognize the autobiographical basis for many of the stories. ""The Finger,"" about a Van Gogh-like act of desperation, and ""Driving Lesson,"" about two drunken young men smashing up Daddy's car, both derive from memorable episodes in Burroughs' early days. ""The Junky's Christmas,"" a simply told tale of trying to score drugs on the holiday, ends with a Beat variation of an O. Henry twist. Other stories concern the decadent life Burroughs was to discover in Tangier; the endless drugs and willing young boys of ""Lee and the Boys""; and the pathetic old queens and nasty whores of ""In the Cafe Central."" Much of the remaining prose is drawn from journals kept during those years in Morocco, and from letters to Allen Ginsberg that are now on deposit at Columbia. Included are portraits (of Brion Gysin and Paul Bowles); observations (on failure, cats, Arabs, and crime); memoirs (of sex, drugs, dreams, and writing habits); and comic vignettes (a blackmail scenario, and a TV ad for a bug repellent for buggers). Also found among Ginsberg's papers was the longish ""Interzone,"" originally part of Naked Lunch, and accurately described by Grauerholz as ""a manic, surreal, willfully disgusting and violently purgative regurgitation"" of Burroughs' graphic imagery. In all, food for doubt that adds little to the Burroughs reputation. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
