Radical Theory and Practice in William S. Burroughs' Fiction
090615: tangential review: i have read many works by burroughs, but actually i enjoyed this more than most of what he has written. in this, there is for me the familiarity of judgement from a book on chinese literature narrative strategies, which i liked more than the classics compared (have read none), or the ancillary lit on 'tale of genji' (which makes me think of soap operas), or the plays but not the novels of samuel beckett, or the endless excitement over finnegan's wake...
090615: first review: i first read ws burroughs in my twenties at u, when it simply confused me, work i could admire but not love. i read him again, his cut-up trilogy, in my thirties. i was strangely more positive then. having read much about his life, his theories, his techniques, his writing- now i feel i might even read him again. this work has been the clearest, most intriguing, most encouraging, lit crit i have read on him. there are problems, still. but this has been fun. again, my definition of 'fun' may not garner many readers...