William S. Burroughs

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William S. Burroughs Criticism

William S. Burroughs (1914–1997) stands as a central figure in 20th-century American literature, renowned for his groundbreaking work that challenged conventional narrative forms and explored themes of addiction, control, and liberation. A key member of the Beat Movement alongside Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, Burroughs is perhaps best known for his novel Naked Lunch, which ignited controversy due to its explicit content and faced an obscenity trial upon publication in 1959. As discussed in Critical Approaches to William Burroughs, or How to Admit an Admiration for a Good Book, this work is both a satire of American societal norms and an experimental assault on language as a tool of control.

Contents

  • Principal Works
  • Burroughs, William
  • Burroughs, William S(eward) (Vol. 15)
    • William S. Burroughs
    • The Science-Fiction of William Burroughs
    • The Quest and the Question: Cosmology and Myth in the Work of William S. Burroughs, 1953–1960
    • Dismantling the System
  • Burroughs, William S. (Contemporary Literary Criticism)
    • Obituaries
    • Overview
    • Reviews Of Burroughs's Recent Works
      • The Bare Facts
      • Dispatches from the Interzone
      • Dream Control
  • Burroughs, William S(eward) (Vol. 5)
  • Burroughs, William S(eward) (Vol. 2)
  • Burroughs, William S(eward) (Vol. 22)
    • 'Confusion Hath Fuck His Masterpiece': The Random Art of William S. Burroughs
    • Books in Brief: 'Junky'
    • Dark Smile, Devilish Saints
    • Pleasures of Hanging
    • Almost Caricature
    • English: 'Port of Saints'
    • No Jokes
    • Idiot Mambo
    • 'Cities of the Red Night'
  • Burroughs, William S. (Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism)
  • Further Reading