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Naked Lunch cover art

Naked Lunch

By: William S. Burroughs
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
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Summary

Naked Lunch is one of the most important novels of the 20th century, a book that redefined not just literature but American culture.

This is an unnerving tale of a narcotics addict unmoored in New York, Tangiers, and, ultimately, a nightmarish wasteland known as Interzone. The restored text includes many editorial corrections and incorporates Burroughs's notes on the text and several essays he wrote over the years about the book. For the Burroughs enthusiast and neophyte alike, this is a valuable and fresh experience of this classic of our culture.

©2001 William S. Burroughs Trust (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"William was a Shootist. He shot like he wrote - with extreme precision and no fear." (Hunter S. Thompson, Rolling Stone)
"A masterpiece. A cry from hell, a brutal, terrifying, and savagely funny book that swings between uncontrolled hallucination and fierce, exact satire." ( Newsweek)

What listeners say about Naked Lunch

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Defies a pithy title

To enjoy this book I had to let go of the concept of following a story and simply revel at the stunning imagery invoked by the insane streams of descriptive prose.
I found I could listen for about an hour in a sitting and then have to take a pause and sift through the broken images stuffed into my head. I have to say, not all of them were pretty images.
I found it hard to imagine this book being written in the late 50's and easy to imagine it causing a moral outrage. I can see how the book split people into two camps and understand people finding it offensive, however, I fall into the camp of people who saw a dark beauty in it. It has some of the most amazing descriptive scenes I can ever remember reading.
I will read it again and have more Burroughs on my wish list.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Exquisitely written filth

The perfect antidote to the American stereo-type. Far from God fearing, clean cut and family valued pre-sixties America, the Naked Lunch explores the far out other extreme of drugs, sex and human depravity. Don't let this put you off!!! It is written in such an exquisite manner that I found myself recoiling at the subject matter but marvelling in the art of writing. The Naked Lunch is one of the most beautifully written and one of the the most depraved of books. Masterpiece of language, filth written art and very funny. The dichotomy split my mind time and again and I thoroughly enjoyed the master crafting that managed to mess so much with my head. Get it!!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Terrible awful brilliant

Wonderfully read a really full bodied performance of the weirdest, funniest, nastiest most brilliant book of the mid 20th century, terrible fun, 40 years ahead of its time it still shocks, there is nothing but nothing as dark funny, stomach turning and joyous as Naked Lunch

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

masterpiece

Just fucking listen ffs, This will change your world. It's what all books wanna be but can never be.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Didn't get it.

I absolutely loved Junkie, I smashed the book in 2 days. I was really looking forward to Naked Lunch, however I found it very difficult to follow and it didn't hold my attention.
I found it really lacked narrative and what story there was, I didn't really follow.
I found it a bit of a chore, not for me!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

disgusting

unmissable authentic sludge, raw sewage in undiluted and uncompromising terms. don't die before you've subjected yourself to this

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Nightmarish Trip Into The Mind Of A Drug Addict

Interzone is the alternative universe of a junkies
world. Its the the place they go when high on, whatever their on. Like any frontier city ( it
borders the consciousness and subconscious ),
you can find pleasure and pain in a multitude of pornographic vices. Its a place of a thousand perversions, told in an almost poetic stream of consciousness that makes no sense and yet you somehow understand it.
Brilliantly narrated by Mark Bramhall, its not an
easy listen on any level. William S Burroughs may have been one of the " Beat Generation ", and yet he was an original. So give "Naked Lunch" a go and whether you have a good trip or a bad one, just ask yourself, "WOULDN'T YOU !".

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Baffling and ugly

What would have made Naked Lunch better?

There is no story, just a set of ugly and repetative scenes of smack and sodomy. Brutal and beautiful language and some humour but it just went no where. This book was written from notes over 9 years and it just feels like a bunch of words.

Has Naked Lunch put you off other books in this genre?

what genre? is this non-fiction, sci-fi, noir, biographical.

What does Mark Bramhall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The narrator is great, and goes some way to make this a less painful listen

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

disappointment, a major work of the Beat movement is really just a load of scrawling doodles from a junky. At times funny, at times poetic, at times revolting but not enough of either to make it work getting through

Any additional comments?

I don't think every book should be an easy listen but this was just baffling and pointless. Maybe view it more as a collection of short stories and you might enjoy 40% of the book.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent narration

Truly disgusting and amazing. The prose is excellent and subject matter not for the faint of heart. A classic.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A good rendition, and free!

I haven't read this for about 30 years, and although I always think that Burroughs's writing doesn't sound right when read by someone else. this is just a result of him having recorded so much of his own writing The narrator of this version is very good, though, and has reminded me just how funny this book can be, especially the Dr Benway stories. The fact that it's also part of the Plus library is a fantastic bonus.

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