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The Soft Machine

By William S. Burroughs (Author)

Paperback published by Grove Press (Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated)

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The Soft Machine

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About This Book
In Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs revealed his genius. In The Soft Machine he begins an adventure that will take us even further into the dark recesses of his imagination, a region where nothing is sacred, nothing taboo. Continuing his ferocious verbal assault on hatred, hype, poverty, war, bureaucracy, and addiction in all its forms, Burroughs gives us a surreal space odyssey through the wounded galaxies in a book only he could create.
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In Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs revealed his genius. In The Soft Machine he begins an adventure that will take us even further into the dark recesses of his imagination, a region where nothing is sacred, nothing taboo. Continuing his ferocious verbal assault on hatred, hype, poverty, war, bureaucracy, and addiction in all its forms, Burroughs gives us a surreal space odyssey through the wounded galaxies in a book only he could create.
Product Details
Paperback (184 pages)
Published: August 1, 2001
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated
Imprint: Grove Press
ISBN: 9780802133298
Other books byWilliam S. Burroughs
(42)
  • First Thought Best Thought

    First Thought Best Thought
    "First thought, best thought." This was the phrase that poet Allen Ginsberg used to describe spontaneous and fearless writing, a way of telling the truth that arises from naked and authentic experience. For more than 30 years, groundbreaking teachers at Naropa University such as Ginsberg and his colleagues Anne Waldman, William S. Burroughs, and Diane di Prima have inspired emerging poets and prose writers to express themselves with unfettered honesty and immediacy. Now, with First Thought, Best Thought, the first landmark release from Naropa University's treasured audio archives, you are invited to meet and learn with these literary mentors face-to-face as they share the secrets of their craft. Selected and edited by poet and Naropa alumnus Randy Roark from thousands of hours of performance and teaching sessions, First Thought, Best Thought brings you four rare gems of inspiration and practical wisdom, including: William S. Burroughs teaching his breakthrough methods for generating fresh writing—including the cut-up method, chance operations, and dreamworkDiane di Prima on how to survive as an artist—preserving your sensibility, creating a supportive artistic community, getting published, self-publishing, and much moreAllen Ginsberg exploring every stage of poetic activity—from inspiration, to composition, to revision, to performing your poetry in publicAnne Waldman on the elements of the poet's craft—from the raw material of the words themselves to the many aspects of the poem in performance
    Visit Book Page

    Naked Lunch

    Naked Lunch
    The Restored Text
    Since its original publication in Paris in 1959, Naked Lunch has become one of the most important novels of the twentieth century. Exerting its influence on the relationship of art and obscenity, it is one of the books that redefined not just literature but American culture. For the Burroughs enthusiast and the neophyte, this volume—that contains final-draft typescripts, numerous unpublished contemporaneous writings by Burroughs, his own later introductions to the book, and his essay on psychoactive drugs—is a valuable and fresh experience of a novel that has lost none of its relevance or satirical bite.
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    And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

    And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks
    In the summer of 1944, a shocking murder rocked the fledgling Beats. William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, both still unknown, we inspired by the crime to collaborate on a novel, a hard-boiled tale of bohemian New York during World War II, full of drugs and art, obsession and brutality, with scenes and characters drawn from their own lives. Finally published after more than sixty years, this is a captivating read, and incomparable literary artifact, and a window into the lives and art of two of the twentieth century’s most influential writers.
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    The Place of Dead Roads

    The Place of Dead Roads
    A Novel
    A good old-fashion shoot-out in the American West of the frontier days serves as the springboard for this hyperkinetic adventure in which gunslingers, led by Kim Carson, fight for galactic freedom. The Place of Dead Roads is the second novel in the trilogy with Cities of the Red Night and The Western Lands.
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  • I was working the hole with the sailor and we did not do bad. Fifteen cents on an average night boosting the afternoons and short-timing the dawn we made out from the land of the free....

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  • December 07, 2007
    IRONICQUEERY
    LibraryThing User

    As much as I hate to say a book was completely horrible, this book was quite wretched. According to Wikipedia, Burroughs apparently uses some cut-up and fold-in technique, but really, it just seems to result in something completely unreadable that makes no sense, rather than innovative and enlightening. I guess if you study this book long enough, some decent findings could come from the book. It had snippets of a decent story here and there. But for me, the ideas were just so random - not just ideas - but sentences and words so random - that it really seemed to be a mess of writing. I don't see how anyone could enjoy this book without having it explained to them from someone who really knew Burroughs's intent. I really like a lot of Burroughs's spoken word, but his written word leaves me quite disappointed.

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    As much as I hate to say a book was completely horrible, this book was quite wretched. According to Wikipedia, Burroughs apparently uses some cut-up and fold-in technique, but really, it just seems to result in something completely unreadable that makes no sense, rather than innovative and enlightening. I guess if you study this book long enough, some decent findings could come from the book. It had snippets of a decent story here and there. But for me, the ideas were just so random - not just ideas - but sentences and words so random - that it really seemed to be a mess of writing. I don't see how anyone could enjoy this book without having it explained to them from someone who really knew Burroughs's intent. I really like a lot of Burroughs's spoken word, but his written word leaves me quite disappointed.


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