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For the film, see Naked Lunch (film). Naked Lunch ( 1991) is a Film adaptation of the novel of the same name by William S
Naked Lunch
also The Naked Lunch
~
First Edition 1959 Olympia, Misprinted Title
Author William S. Burroughs
Country France
Language English
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher Olympia Press/Grove Press (US)
Publication date 1959
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN ISBN 9783548028439 (reprint)

Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs. William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Olympia Press was a Paris -based Publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebadged version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951 A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word

Having previously written Junkie and Queer this is the third novel written by the beat writer; although only his second to be published. See Junk (novel for the book of similar title by Melvin Burgess. Queer is the title of an early Short novel (written 1951&ndash1953 published 1985 by William S His second novel, Queer, remained unpublished until 1985.

The book was originally published with the title The Naked Lunch in Paris in 1959 by Olympia Press. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. An American edition by Grove Press followed soon after in 1962. Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951 Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The American edition was titled Naked Lunch and was substantially different from the Olympia Press edition. This is because the Grove Press edition was in fact based on an earlier 1958 manuscript that Allen Ginsberg had in his possession. Irwin Allen Ginsberg (ˈgɪnzbɝg (June 3 1926 &ndash April 5 1997 was an American Poet. [1] The article the in the title was never intended by the author, but added by the editors of the Olympia Press 1959 edition. [2] Nonetheless The Naked Lunch remained the title used for the 1968 and 1974 Corgi Books editions, and the novel is often known by the alternative name, especially in the UK where these editions circulated. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located [3]

Time magazine included the novel in its "TIME" 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005". Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and [4]

David Cronenberg released a film of the same title based upon the novel and other Burroughs writings in 1991. David Paul Cronenberg OC, FRSC (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian Film director and occasional Actor. Naked Lunch ( 1991) is a Film adaptation of the novel of the same name by William S Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. [5]

Contents

Plot introduction

The book is written in vignettes and uses the cut-up technique to create some of its structure. In Theater script and Poetry writing vignettes are short impressionistic scenes that focus on one moment or give a trenchant impression about a character The cut-up technique, also known as fishbowling, is an Aleatory Literary technique or genre in which a text is cut up at Random It can be argued that this makes the chapters rather erratic and difficult to read for some, although Burroughs himself stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order. [6] The reader follows the narration of junkie William Lee, who takes on various aliases, from America to Mexico, eventually ending in Tangier and the dreamlike Interzone. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Tangier or Tangiers ]] ( Tanja طنجة in Berber and Arabic, Tánger in Spanish The vignettes (called 'routines' by Burroughs) are drawn from Burroughs' own experience in these places, and his addiction to drugs (notably heroin and morphine). Heroin ( INN: diacetylmorphine, BAN: diamorphine) is a semi-synthetic opioid synthesized from Morphine, a derivative Medical uses Morphine can be used as an analgesic in hospital settings to relieve pain in Myocardial infarction pain in [7][8] The way Burroughs has written the novel ensures that the reader only sees part of the picture - as much as he wants to share. It often happens, given this structure, that something mentioned in the book is not explained or elaborated upon until much later. This idea, relating to different perspectives within a larger picture, is itself a theme which runs throughout this book. The novel's mix of taboo fantasies, peculiar creatures (like the predatory Mugwumps), and eccentric personalities all serve to unmask mechanisms and processes of control, and have led to much controversy. The Mugwumps were Republican political activists who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of By de-centralising plot Burroughs focuses on literal caricatures, satire and parody throughout the novel.

Explanation of the novel's title

Burroughs states in his introduction that Jack Kerouac suggested the title. Jack Kerouac ( March 12 1922 &ndash October 21 1969) was an American Novelist, Writer, Poet, and "The title means exactly what the words say: naked lunch, a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork. "[9] In a June 1960 letter Jack Kerouac wrote to Allen Ginsberg saying he was pleased that Burroughs had credited him with the title but had not recently heard from him. Jack Kerouac ( March 12 1922 &ndash October 21 1969) was an American Novelist, Writer, Poet, and Irwin Allen Ginsberg (ˈgɪnzbɝg (June 3 1926 &ndash April 5 1997 was an American Poet. He states in his letter that Ginsberg misread 'Naked Lust' from the manuscript, and only he noticed; that section of the manuscript later became Queer, although the phrase does not appear in either of the two final texts of the novel. Queer is the title of an early Short novel (written 1951&ndash1953 published 1985 by William S [10]

Plot summary

The book follows the adventures of William Lee (aka Lee the Agent) who is the writer of the book - Burroughs' alter ego in the novel - as well as his pen name for Junky. [11] His journey starts in the US where he is fleeing the police, in search of drugs and his next fix. There are short chapters here describing the different characters he travels with and meets along the way.

Eventually he gets to Mexico where he is assigned to Dr. Benway. For what, we are not told - perhaps he is a subject of Benway's more than anything else. We are told all about Benway through his previous doings in Annexia. The plot then moves to a state called freeland - somewhat limbo between the world we know and Interzone - where we learn of 'Islam Inc. ' and characters who follow Lee into Interzone are introduced - Clem, Carl, Joselito amongst others.

A short section then jumps in space and time to a market place. The Black Meat is sold here and parodied to Junk. Action then moves straight back to the hospital where Benway has his finest hour and Burroughs shows his views of doctors - manipulative, uncaring and corrupt.

Time and space again shift and we are now in Interzone. Hassan,the villain of the novel and 'a notorious liquifactionist,' is throwing a violent orgy. AJ crashes the party and wreaks havoc, decapitating people and imitating a pirate. Hassan is not too pleased with this and tells AJ to not darken his doors again, he also describes him as a 'factualist bitch' which is explained - much later. A short descriptive section tells us of Interzone University and the book moves on to an orgy AJ is throwing - a parody of Hassan's - more comical than aggressive.

The book then shifts into descriptive mode and we see the market and some form of government. Characters including the County Clerk, Benway, Dr Berger, Clem and Jody are developed through heavy dialogue and their own sub-stories.

Finally the book starts to explain itself and we are told of the four parties of Interzone, we are then told more stories about AJ, perhaps this is to allow us to understand what party he represents - the factualists. After finally describing Interzone properly the novel breaks down into sub-stories, irrelevance and nonsense. The police finally catch up with Lee, although he kills them and goes on the run once again.

The book ends 'No glot. . . . . . C'lom fliday'
(which is Chinese Pidgin English 'No got. Chinese Pidgin English is today a Pidgin language of Nauru and other countries in Asia and Oceania. . . come back Friday')[12]

Literary significance and reception

Naked Lunch is considered Burroughs' seminal work, and one of the landmark publications in the history of American literature. American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. Extremely controversial in both its subject matter and its use of often 'obscene' language (something Burroughs recognized and intended), the book was banned in many regions of the United States, and was one of the most recent American books over which an obscenity trial was held. Obscenity (in Latin obscenus, meaning "foul repulsive detestable" is a term that is most often used in a legal context to The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The book was banned by Boston courts in 1962 due to obscenity (notably child murder and acts of pedophilia), but that decision was reversed in 1966 by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ( SJC) is the highest Court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This was significant, as it was the last major literary censorship battle in the U. Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor S. [13] The Appeals Court found the book did not violate obscenity statutes, as it was found to have some social value. The hearing included testimony in support of the work by Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer. Irwin Allen Ginsberg (ˈgɪnzbɝg (June 3 1926 &ndash April 5 1997 was an American Poet. Norman Kingsley Mailer ( January 31, 1923 &ndash November 10, 2007) was an American Novelist, Journalist, [14]

Sections of the manuscript were published in the spring 1958 edition of the University of Chicago student run publication The Chicago Review. The University of Chicago is a Private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. The edition was not well received, and caused the university administration to discuss the future censorship of the Winter 1959 edition of the publication, resulting in the resignation of all but one of the editors. When the editor Paul Carroll published BIG TABLE Magazine (Issue No. 1, Spring 1959) alongside former 'Chicago Review' editor Irving Rosenthal, he was found guilty of sending obscene material through the U. S. mail for including "Ten Episodes from Naked Lunch", a piece of writing the Judicial Officer for the United States Postal Service deemed "undisciplined prose, far more akin to the early work of experimental adolescents than to anything of literary merit" and initially judged it as non mailable under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 1461. Title 18 of the United States Code is the Criminal and Penal code of the Federal government of the United States. [15]

Upon publication, Grove Press added to the book supplementary material regarding the censorship battle as well as an article written by Burroughs on the topic of drug addiction. Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951 Drug addiction is widely considered a pathological state. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute Drug use to the development of drug-seeking In 2002, a "restored text" edition of Naked Lunch was published with some new and previously suppressed material added.

The redeeming literary merit of the work is found in the biting satire and social criticism many of these episodes contain. Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human Burroughs digests the modern American mind and spits out a wild, repulsive parade of images and characters that encapsulate the state of the 20th century. From the seedy abortionist who solicits pregnant women on the street, to the racist County Clerk who represents rural intolerance, to the macho father who buys a prostitute for his fifteen year old son on his birthday, only to discover the kid literally got a "piece of ass", Naked Lunch exposes the under workings of the American experience, and shows the beginnings of a social pathology and hypocrisy that would erupt in the 1960s as a 'culture war'. Burroughs himself found the material disturbing to write, but also a cleansing of his life-long frustrations and unconsciously repressed experiences.

On a more specific level, Naked Lunch protests the death penalty. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. In Burroughs' Deposition: A Testimony Concerning A Sickness, perhaps the most shocking and pornographic section of the book, "The Blue Movies" (appearing in the vignette A. J. 's Annual Party) is deemed "a tract against capital punishment. " Within "The Blue Movies," three overtly sexual adolescents take part in hanging one another, wherein Burroughs lewdly mocks by incorporating auto-erotic asphyxiation. Erotic asphyxiation refers to intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal

Using believable metaphors representing addiction to such things as, most notably heroin, along with medical practice such as Benway resorting to subway abortions after having his license revoked, and even homosexuality, Burroughs repudiates America's consumerist post-World War II state, and the overall human addiction to control. Heroin ( INN: diacetylmorphine, BAN: diamorphine) is a semi-synthetic opioid synthesized from Morphine, a derivative Unfortunately because of its absurdity and strong drug content, many readers misinterpret Naked Lunch as merely a drug novel written by a delusional addict.

Allusions and references

Allusions in other works

The book contains what is generally considered to be some of Burroughs' most memorable and quoted passages. One of the most quoted is a section (or, to use Burroughs' terminology, a "routine") known as "The Talking Asshole". This story-within-a-story involves a man who teaches his anal orifice to talk, a trick he soon regrets when it develops a personality and mind of its own and eventually takes over the man's body. The man is eventually incapable of doing anything other than consuming and excreting, becoming an "all-purpose blob. " Notable recordings and performances of this routine include Frank Zappa reading it during 1978's The Nova Convention (it was recorded and released by Giorno Poetry Systems), by Burroughs himself in his mid-1990s CD Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales, and it is quoted virtually verbatim by Peter Weller's character in the film version of Naked Lunch. Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21 1940 – December 4 1993 was an American Composer, Electric guitarist Record producer and Film director Founded in 1965 Giorno Poetry Systems was an American artist collective Record label, and non-profit organisation founded by poet and performance artist John Peter Frederick Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an Academy Award -nominated American film and stage Actor, director and Lecturer

Several characters would reappear in many later works, most notably the surgeon Dr. Benway, Clem Snide "the Private Asshole", and Inspector Lee. In 1989, Burroughs published Interzone, a collection of short stories and other writings including a chapter entitled "WORD" that at one time was considered for inclusion in Naked Lunch. Interzone is a collection of short stories and other early works by William S

Poet Allen Ginsberg, Burroughs' close friend, refers to Naked Lunch in his introduction to his epic poem "Howl". Irwin Allen Ginsberg (ˈgɪnzbɝg (June 3 1926 &ndash April 5 1997 was an American Poet. Howl and Other Poems is a collection of poetry by Allen Ginsberg.

Burroughs wrote portions of Naked Lunch (and performed most of the editing) in room #9 of the Hotel el Muniria in Tangier. The Villa Muniria was the hotel in Tangier, Morocco in which William S Tangier or Tangiers ]] ( Tanja طنجة in Berber and Arabic, Tánger in Spanish Today, photos of Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and other beat generation poets hang on the walls of the adjoining bar, the Tangerinn. Irwin Allen Ginsberg (ˈgɪnzbɝg (June 3 1926 &ndash April 5 1997 was an American Poet. Jack Kerouac ( March 12 1922 &ndash October 21 1969) was an American Novelist, Writer, Poet, and The Tangerinn is a bar in Tangier, Morocco, a place of Nostalgia for fans of Beat generation or Beatnik poets

There have been many references to Naked Lunch in popular culture, all of which are listed below.


Film adaptation

Main article: Naked Lunch (film)

Ever since the 1960s, numerous film makers considered how to adapt Naked Lunch for the screen. Naked Lunch ( 1991) is a Film adaptation of the novel of the same name by William S Antony Balch, who worked with Burroughs on a number of short film projects in 1960s, considered making the film as a musical with Mick Jagger in the leading role, but the project fell through when relationships soured between Balch and Jagger. Antony Balch (born 10 September 1937 in London - died April 1980 was an English film director and distributor best known for his screen collaborations Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger, Kt (born 26 July 1943 is a Golden Globe -winning and two-time Grammy -winning English rock [16] [17] Others, too, wanted to bring the novel to celluloid, but it was ultimately deemed unfilmable.

It was not until 1991 that Canadian director David Cronenberg took up the challenge. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page David Paul Cronenberg OC, FRSC (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian Film director and occasional Actor. Rather than attempt a straight adaptation of the novel, however, Cronenberg instead took elements from the book and combined them with elements from Burroughs' own life, to create a fiction-biography hybrid and a film about the writing of the book.

Peter Weller starred as William Lee in this film, Lee being the pseudonym Burroughs used when he wrote Junkie. Peter Frederick Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an Academy Award -nominated American film and stage Actor, director and Lecturer A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name (see Alias) The film incorporates events from Burroughs' own life, including the accidental shooting of his wife (played in the film by Judy Davis), along with routines from Naked Lunch. Judy Davis (born 23 April 1955 is an Academy Award -nominated Screen Actors Guild Award, three-time Emmy Award, two-time BAFTA Award For example, one scene shows Weller as Lee reciting the "Talking Asshole" routine from the novel, almost verbatim.


Footnotes

  1. ^ William S Burroughs, 'Naked Lunch', the restored text edition, edited by James Grauerholtz and Barry Miles, 2001. Refer to Editors Notes, page 242
  2. ^ William S Burroughs, 'Naked Lunch', the restored text edition, edited by James Grauerholtz and Barry Miles, 2001. Refer to Editors Notes, page 240
  3. ^ http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/burroughs-books/index.html A collection of Burroughs book covers,with accurate date, country and press information
  4. ^ http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/0,24459,naked_lunch,00.html Time top 100 Novels
  5. ^ Naked Lunch (1991)
  6. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/realmedia/burroughsw/burroughsw3.ram Burroughs On Cutup
  7. ^ Burroughs, Naked Lunch
  8. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/burroughsw1.shtml BBC Radio Burroughs interviews
  9. ^ William S Burroughs, 'Naked Lunch', the restored text edition, edited by James Grauerholtz and Barry Miles, 2001. Page 199
  10. ^ William S Burroughs, 'Naked Lunch', the restored text edition, edited by James Grauerholtz and Barry Miles, 2001. Editors Notes Page 235
  11. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0123221/bio Biography of Burroughs detailing the use of his pen name William Lee
  12. ^ From the novel (Note: Old time, veteran Schmeckers, faces beaten by grey junk weather, will remember. . . . In 1920s a lot of Chinese pushers around found The West so unreliable, dishonest and wrong, they all packed in, so when an Occidental junky came to score, they'd say: "No glot. . . . C'lom Fliday. . . . ")
  13. ^ Burroughs, Naked Lunch
  14. ^ http://www.artdamage.com/wsb/trial.htm testimony
  15. ^ http://www.poetrycenter.org/about/perspectives/usps.html The Big Table court decision
  16. ^ landmarkafterdark.com - May 18 & 19: NAKED LUNCH
  17. ^ GETTING 'NAKED' ON SCREEN | David Cronenberg | Pop Culture News | News | Entertainment Weekly | 1

Sources, external links, and quotations

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