Naked Lunch
Beat generation scandal
Naked Lunch is a 1959 novel by William S.
Burroughs, a landmark of Beat literature known for its nonlinear structure, hallucinatory imagery, and explicit depictions of drug addiction and sexuality.
The title, suggested by Jack Kerouac, refers to a moment of clarity when you see exactly what's on your fork—reality stripped bare.
The book's obscenity trial helped establish legal protections for literary works in the United States.
- beatRhythmic pulse or strike
- heroinIllegal addictive opiate
- junkiePerson with compulsive dependency
- cut-upHabitual joker or clown
- grotesqueDistorted, bizarre figure
Burroughs · addiction · surreal · hallucinatory · typewriter · Ginsberg · Kerouac · interzone · mugwump · fix · needle · withdrawal · obscenity · censorship · experimental · fever · nightmare · junk
- banned books1984, Animal Farm, Brave New World, Lady Chatterley's Lover, Lady Chatterley
- Cult FilmsEraserhead, The Room, Donnie Darko, Napoleon Dynamite, Army of Darkness
- CronenbergScanners, The Fly, Shivers, Spider, body horror
- memoirsmemoir, memoirs, autobiography, autobiographies, life story
- Surrealist FilmsEraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Dali, David Lynch
Naked LunchPride and Prejudice
Regency courtship novel
linear narrative · three-act structure · page-turner · beach read
Naked LunchNorman Rockwell
Naked LunchAnne of Green Gables
family-friendly · The Waltons · Leave It to Beaver · Pollyanna · sanitized
naked, lunch, nakedly, nakedness, lunches, luncheon, luncheonette