Interzone

By William S. Burroughs

Book Overview

In 1954 William Burroughs settled in Tangiers, finding a sanctuary of sorts in its shadowy streets, blind alleys, and lowlife decadence. It was this city that served as a catalyst for Burroughs as a writer, the backdrop for one of the most radical transformations of style in literary history.

Burroughs's life during this period is limned in a startling collection of short stories, autobiographical sketches, letters, and diary entries, all of which showcase his trademark mordant humor, while delineating the addictions to drugs and sex that are the central metaphors of his work. But it is the extraordinary "WORD," a long, sexually wild and deliberately offensive tirade, that blends confession, routine, and fantasy and marks the true turning point of Burroughs as a writer-the breakthrough of his own characteristic voice that will find its full realization in Naked Lunch. James Grauerholz's incisive introduction sets the scene for this series of pieces, guiding the reader through Burroughs's literary evolution from the precise, laconic, and deadpan writer of Junky and Queer to the radical, uncompromising seer of Naked Lunch. Interzone is an indispensable addition to the canon of his works.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140094512
• ISBN13: 9780140094510
• Release Date: February 1990
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 194 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

essential reading to really fully grasp burroughs genius

Burroughs has incredible insight and an unmatched knack for spotting a con. This book contains an invaluable collection of short stories and journal rants that really showcase an emerging writer exploding with ideas in the transient surroundings of Tangier, which he describes as "the listening post of the world": "Here East meets West in a final debacle of misunderstanding, each seeking the Answer, the Secret, from the other and not finding it, because neither has the Answer to give". You hear firsthand his ideas and theories on writing so this is probably the best introduction to William Burroughs, as you prepare with the artist himself, stranded in interzone, for the arrival of a much more fragmented and explosive Naked Lunch.

The Alien Corn

A novel of dangerous ideas, Interzone is literature at its subversive best. Like with all Burroughs' fictions, you'll never think about things the same after this.

"Interzone" exemplifies Burroughs' insight, style, & genius

Before digesting the bulk of Burroughs' voluminous literary output, any reader so interested in Burroughs' work should read "Interzone." This text chronicles Burroughs' progressive literary development and encompasses virtually all of Burroughs' many and complex themes, character types, locales, etc. Much like his electric and mystifying prose, "Interzone" is a collection of abstract and provocative "primers" that will leave the reader hungry for Burroughs' more involved works. A great "jumping off" point