Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780030589980
ISBN number: 0030589983
Label: Henry Holt & Co
Manufacturer: Henry Holt & Co
Printing Date: 1981-04
Publishing house: Henry Holt & Co
Sale Popularity Level: 826638
Studio: Henry Holt & Co
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While young men wage war against an evil empire of zealous mutants, the population of this modern inferno is afflicted with the epidemic of a radioactive virus. An opium-infused apocalyptic vision from the legendary author of Naked Lunch is the very first of the trilogy with The Places of the Dead Roads and his final novel, The Western Plains.
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Rated by buyers 
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William Burroughs creates the world he wants to live in... where sodomy and illicit drugs are plentiful, too say the least, and reality exists only in your beliefs. Composed of seemingly unrelated story lines (no spoilers here), one plot surrounding the violent takeover of Spanish territory by a cult of young renegade pirates, another centered on a Noir-esque globetrotting Private Eye and his... assistant... investigating a young boy murdered in a mysterious ritualistic manner involving hanging and, well, ejaculation. Throw in an inexplicable plague-like disease, time travel, gay sex and Burrough's patented deadpan narrative, you've got yourself an epic. This is what happens when Beats read history books strung out.
Rated by buyers 
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This is the most accessible William Burroughs novel ever written. It has more structure, cohesion and plot than most of his other works, so if you are a very first time Burroughs reader this is the one to go for...Burroughs is a genius and a prophet of 20th Century literature. His writing pushes the boundaries of imagination,sexuality, social interaction and time. He is an alien soul injected into the dead body of a homosexual junkie. He started shooting up as a 1 yr old baby and by the age of 2 he was having anal sex with other babies in nightclub toilets. His stream of consciousness will transport you to planets and worlds that transcend human experience but also unveil the instincts that drive us to the edge of depravity and extinction. William Burroughs is in love with humanity and he knows how to show it. After all he did shoot his wife in the head xxx
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Fierce symbolisms that rips out the guts of whitebread America. The most profound gem is Burrough's prediction of the AIDS crisis. He was able to capture in this book the symptoms he saw develop in the homosexual underground years before it was announced to the world at large.
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Burroughs knew what he was talking about. This book along with the Place of Dead Roads was the final, most complete and coherant summation of the Burroughs vision/nightmare. Just by virtue of his personal style these books mix utopian essay, apocalyptic nightmare, gut wrenching horror, and valid cultural criticism. As far as experimental fiction goes, you won't find any more readable, in the Burroughs canon or anywhere else. A word of caution: these books are for thinking people; they are not brain dead entertainment with cutesy characters or happy endings. It is not easy reading. Burroughs regards the natural condition of humaity and civillization as ultimately dark and depraved. Few people want to believe that, and those who do may have a hard time coming to grips with such a pessimistic conclusion about human nature. Such a vision provokes and challengues us all. Those brave souls who, though cold, disoriented and terrified choose to light a candle with trembling hands and willingly descend the staircase into the forsaken cellar of Burroughs' mind will not return unscathed or unrewarded.
Rated by buyers -
I can't say that I want to "Be Like Burroughs" because there were some instances in this novel Cities of the Red Night (and others) where I thought he was on the verge of losing his mind. The stories span from homo-erotic pornography to violent surrealism but his talent was obvious. There are political messages on the nature of freedom and individualism, however an average reader could easily be distracted by but all of the surreal imagery and sexual situations. Yet I recommend that you read Naked Lunch very first before reading this book.
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