Naked Lunch cover art

Naked Lunch

The Restored Text

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Naked Lunch

By: William S. Burroughs
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

 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. Classics Genre Fiction LGBTQIA+ Creators Literary Fiction Psychological Fiction Scary

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)
All stars
Most relevant
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.

A good rendition, and free!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Truly disgusting and amazing. The prose is excellent and subject matter not for the faint of heart. A classic.

Excellent narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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!!

Exquisitely written filth

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Just fucking listen ffs, This will change your world. It's what all books wanna be but can never be.

masterpiece

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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.

Defies a pithy title

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews