Naked Lunch

The Restored Text

By: William S. Burroughs

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's 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)

Poetry from the Dark Side of the Soul

For a long time this book has been on my reading list.
I am glad I approached it as an audible book, because I think the prose really lends itself to a performance piece.
This is not a book with a beginning, middle and end. This is a stream of conscientiousness that is semi autobiographical.
The author was addicted to heroin at the time of writing. Legend has it he took all of his work and cut it to pieces then re-joined the papers in random order.
I love this book for the authors sheer audacity and dexterity with the English language.
Now I know what all the hype was about.
The Narrator Mark Bramhall was perfect for this book.

The Rumpus Room chapter left me feeling DIRTY!

It's a curse, been in the family for generations. The Lees have always been PERVERTS.

good lord

Not a big fan of the narrator, I understand it's a series of short stories that can be read in any order but this was hard to follow and took me over a year to finish.

Poetic Filth

Disgusting and beautiful, this book is a collection of depraved thoughts set in prose and organized at random. Read with caution.

Awesome!

Don't look at it as a traditional linear Novel.
See it as a chronicling of debauchery, madness, and addiction.

Unfilmable book? Maybe but they shoulda left it be

I had the pleasure of reading this book for myself, hard copy, living alone and never heard the name William Burroughs before. But I had recently recovered from the H-life, and thank God this book was as honest and cathartic as a real life introspective. Imagine the over-sensitive Kerouac fan... comes home67[[
.to hear his oldest son reading "Naked Lunch" out loud to a couple of his siblings... Oh how that warms the cockles of my heart x)
Just knowing the story of Burroughs excruciating journey through the process of writing Naked Lunch and how it was conceived in dozens of countries through countless trips... of the mind, spirit and the reality of Earthen humanity itself! It really blew my wad (of course I'm referring to my mind-wad, or at least I would be if I were referencing the hatchet job Anti-Drug movie about people who are addicted to pow[ered bugs, goddammit!d) What in the actual...!?!? if Cronenberg was so worried about making a movie that could possibly make it seem as if drugs are a part of the real world; ugly, shameful, ..! deadly, life-saving, miraculous , sanity restoring (or the exact opposite), why do it? I loved the fly, and I had never read Naked Lunch when it came out then I was still a little young to even understand drug references yet, but now that I've been able to listen to this audiobook multiple times, and I was old enough to still remember what that movie was like , powderized bugs and talking anuses Etc . I would love to hear David Cronenberg defend this disaster piece. Or at least, admit he didn't quite understand that William, himself, was writing from HIS own soul, the one he experienced. It had many lenses in place that added something, possibly like pure cognitive distortions of his entire spirit, or removal of the filters which keep lesser men in their place, unable to reach out to the empty vacuum and pull back the veil of humanity... with all its glorious flaws, true evil, wildest loves and the nature of being honest with yourself, about yourself
End of story. The problem with drugs is that people get addicted to them and it changes their lives in irreparable ways! He could have made a movie Burroughs (may have) respected, without ever resorting to the utter absurdity of "Crone'd Lunch"
As an act of completely disparaging the author's wishes, his true intentions, decades of motivations and insights affording one hell of a contribution to the literature of contemporary, early-mid 20th century America... Good boy David x)
I'd say that even despite some of the pitiful moments of "joy" (¿no not quite joy? but anyway) that these characters were barely able to glean for mere moments. The descriptive taste chosen to bring these fleeting moments of dull, pale color... the tiniest bit of a spark to lives already so boring, ordinarily drab, grey... damn spectral lines forming a humanoid, even if only for a brief, sad moment.
Maybe everyone in America should have to read this book before they turn 21! At least they could gain somea small modicum of perspective.
Do yourself a favor, buy your ticket, & take the damn ride. Learn something if you can
For Christ's sake

Awesome except for all the boys and junk

This one starts off cool and powerful, with fantastic narration, but of the 10 hrs here, nearly 4 is composed of letters by the author, and about the book, telling you basically "Naked Lunch: him good medicine. Him you need. Powerful experience." Now, this is worth a look, but even of the little material here, much is redundant, often word for word repeatings, and there is no flow, little story, or point. Much of the material is psychotic, perverted, and pornographic, which is not as much fun as it would be if it did not involve 10 year old boys and murder, though if you like original ideas and images, then if nothing else, this may offer a very twisted nightmare. The author's angry explaination that these sexual murder scenes of little boys are to show how wrong capital punishment is seems forced at best. Get ready to read the following words at least five times per page: boy, junk, junkie, sick, needle, and 20 forms of genitalia and sexual abuse. Oh yeah and everyone messes their pants at least once per page. As for writing, some of it is very unique and strong and even mind-blowing, but every experience boils down to sex or injection, and most of the material was written down while hallucinating on drugs. Then the author met the Beat writers and got their special brand of macho world-changing confidence where anything he did must be the most important thing ever...not really. It is far less structured or normal than the movie, if you have seen that. Be very open minded or you won't last, and as for importance, well it seems not so much to be interested in exposing drugs as awful as making them seem cool, or at least, creating an authentic drug-free trip-out experience, which is achieved. But as far as that goes, what a boring gross world drug tripping is presented as. Why would anyone keep putting themself through this kind of imagery for years and years?

Again please.

If you could sum up Naked Lunch in three words, what would they be?

lost numbing cult

What other book might you compare Naked Lunch to and why?

Most other work outside the beat genre would be offended by a comparison.

What about Mark Bramhall’s performance did you like?

This was an almost perfect match for the narrator.

If you could rename Naked Lunch, what would you call it?

Fasten your seatbelt and make sure your tray is in the upright position.

Any additional comments?

Lude Crass & Indulging - if you want pretty, turn around now.

A gamechanger to the uninitiated

Mark Bramhall's narration alone is enough to make this a worthy purchase.

Naked Lunch was my introduction to Burroughs. It was my introduction to a lot of things. It changed the way I think about writing and about books. If you are or have ever been a weirdo or an outcast or any number of such labels, read this book. Stick with it. This is an experience. You will learn. You will change. Or who knows, maybe you'll bounce off of it hard and swear to never read another Beat author again. But screw it, man. This is an important book. Read it.

don't see good or bad, just what is

Read without imposing yourself upon the text and you'll appreciate it. A lot of people display shock at the content, but did you really expect a countercultural junkie to appeal to suburban book club stay-at-home mom sensibilities?

On another note, the narrator does a great job.