Product Description: Before his 1959 breakthrough, Naked Lunch, an unknown William S. Burroughs wrote Junk, his first book, a candid, eyewitness account of times and places that are now long gone. This book brings them vividly to life again; it is an unvarnished field report from the American postwar underground. For this definitive 50th-anniversary edition, eminent Burroughs scholar Oliver Harris has painstakingly re-created the author's original text, word by word, from archival typescripts. Here for the first time are Burroughs's own unpublished Introduction and an entire omitted chapter, along with many "lost" passages and auxiliary texts by Allen Ginsberg and others. Harris's comprehensive Introduction reveals the composition history of Junk's text and places its contents against a lively historical background.
Not what you may expect Like many, my introduction to William S. Burroughs was Naked Lunch; a book that may very well be the most authentic description of a drug addict's personal, nightmarish hell. I picked up Junky afterwards, not knowing what to expect, and came away disappointed at first. "That's it?" was the thought ringing through my head, as Junky comes off as a straight forward tale of a drug addict on the brink, compared to the picture that Burroughs so vividly painted with Naked Lunch. Deciding to give Junky another chance and putting everything about Naked Lunch on the back burner, the book now comes off as a cautionary tale more than anything else. Burroughs weaves a harrowing, autobiographical tale of Bill Lee: a man with an Ivy League background who discovers the highs and joys of morphine and other members of the junk family, and the experiences that Lee goes through as he tries to kick the habit, only to fall back into it again and again. As said before, Junky is a more straight forward portrait of addiction, and when read side by side with Naked Lunch, comes off as the reality of Burroughs' drug raddled Hell. It definitely doesn't have the kind of impact of Naked Lunch, or even some of Burroughs' other works, but there is still something about Junky that resonates a powerful voice that one should always open an ear for. All in all, if Naked Lunch was your introduction to Burroughs as well, don't let Junky's more straight forward narrative put you off, as it is definitely worth your time.
Junk-Y Junky: The Definitive Text of Junk by William S. Burroughs ***
To be honest I did not enjoy this very much. I am a massive Burroughs fan, he is easily one of my favorite authors of all time, and I have read nearly all his work, and enjoyed almost all of it. Junky is the exception to that. I at times felt the book to be, dare I say boring. Burroughs attempt at the occasional humor was dry and not witty like on most of his work. I found the plot, or lack there of really, to be bland and at times annoying. His style seems to even be strained here, which is sad considering he is one of the most original writers in American history, as well as one of the most underrated.
Now even this, the definitive text didn't save the story for me. I am not saying this was totally bad, so please don't get me wrong. Junky has lots of potential, and could have been one of his best works, but for me personally this just seems weak for an author of his stature.
a different Burroughs Junky could be the most effective anti-drug book ever written.
This is not the William S. Burroughs of The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead (Burroughs, William S.) and certainly not the same guy who wrote Naked Lunch: The Restored Text. This is a Burroughs who's not talking to himself or talking to his admirers. Instead this an author who is stretching to reach the reader with the actual smelly, lonely, desperate, empty reality of the junky.
It's a reality that Burroughs has explored in his fiction and that he has occasionally mined for characters and atmosphere. But nowhere, not even in Exterminator! has he come as close to offering up this direct-if bleak-conversation with the reader. It's worth noting that, outside the world of book-lovers, this may be his most well-known work because it does such a stark and effective job of describing the day-to-day world as it's experienced by the junky.
Lynn Hoffman, author of the somewhat different bang BANG: A Novel
A Serious High. I first devoured this book back in 1991 as I sat in a bathtub in Liverpool. Never before had I come across anything like it. Upon this rereading, I remain surprised at the way it still manages to resonate. I am not a big fan of Burroughs overall as I found Naked Lunch a very hard slog, but the clear, simple prose of Junky tells a-- regrettably brief--tale of a colorful life spent on the margins. Fifty years later its narrative continues to shock. The characters and associations described within are as unique as you'll find in literature. I just wish the book was longer as Burroughs wayward days were interesting enough for 500 pages. It moves like On the Road but the author's realism is what one finds most endearing. It's a life most of us will never know, but Old Bull Lee's snapshot is good enough.
Wildly Original - An Impressive First Novel If you're looking for something different, check out this impressive first novel. Although not a long novel (about 120 pp.), it's wildly original, highly descriptive writing begs a second reading.
_Junky_ is surprisingly well-structured. Believe it or not, there is a plot!
Characters drop in and out of the story, so that the novel itself feels like some sort of crash pad. Everyone is fair game for Burrough's observations; many are described in a surreal, hilarious way. I like the way Burroughs varies sentence and paragraph length, giving an improvisational feel to the book, as if it's a be-bop record or a Jackson Pollock drip painting. (And maybe that's the intent?)
Again, nothing escapes Burrough's critical eye. Although he is homosexual and a junkie, he shows contempt for some of the trappings and adherents of these 1950s subcultures.
Some of my favorite lines include:
- "Waves of hostility and suspicion flowed from his large brown eyes like some sort of television broadcast."
- "'You're both mother (expletive deleted)ers.' She was half-asleep. Her voice was matter-of-fact as if referring to actual incest."
- "A young man lurched in with some object under his arm." (Burrough's word choice is hilarious - "lurched"!)
- "The place looked like a Chop Suey joint. ... The walls were painted black and there was a Chinese character in red lacquer on one wall.
'We don't know what it means,' she said.
'Shirts thirty-one cents,' I suggested."
Perhaps Burrough's self-observation and sense of humor likely contributed to his longevity. It's hard to believe he lived to age 84!
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