Naked Lunch at 50

The William S. Burroughs novel Naked Lunch was published fifty years ago this summer. Naked Lunch was a defining novel of the Beat Generation, 1960s drug culture, and gave rise to one of the last major courtroom battles over literary censorship in the United States. Now with the benefit of half a century's perspective, it remains not only a landmark example of experimental fiction, but for celebrants and detractors alike, one of the most important American novels of the twentieth century. The "novel" (a word that Naked Lunch effectively challenged and redefined) spawned the David Cronenberg film starring Peter Weller, and Weller is hosting a fiftieth anniversary fundraiser celebration this Friday in Chicago. All proceeds benefit the film William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, and special guests include Semiotext(e)'s very own Penny Arcade! Buy your tickets now.
Stop Smiling magazine is currently featuring an extract of an interview with Burroughs from Semiotext(e)'s collection of interviews, Burroughs Live. You can read the interview here.