Customer Reviews

Sick Burn Cut--At Last the Reappearance of Our Lady of the Ugly Ones in Spokane, Washington

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A novel for the millenium, Sick Burn Cut takes us back to pre-Microsoft Seattle, the days of Guns 'n Roses. Mary, a man in a dress, captivates and activates a small group of compatriat guerrilla drag queens for whom mere survival is a matter of survival. They take on the Mall Rats and the Dictators, feuding drug lords and gangs - Mary and her companion, Sayid Huysayn. Meanwhile a group of highschool kids in Spokane Washington form a cult of the Divine Virgin Mary. The two Mary's, who are never conscious of each other's existence, begin the spin a web of intrigue with the promise of great meaning lying behind the banality of suburban discontent. I was having a really bad summer, 'til I read this book!!! Deran Ludd is William Burrough's grandson. Which is not to say that Sick Burn Cut is Burroughs redux. Ludd takes the sensibility and tosses it into a 90's context Burroughs could barely have handled ('cuz he was too old).

When Semiotext(e) published this in the summer of '92 I came across it in a bookstore in NYC. Since then I re-read this book from time to time. What an incredible book that stands the test of time. In some ways it is even more relevant today than when it was published. It's sometimes classified under queer literature but this is novel that transcends sexual lines. It bites hard from the very beginning and never lets up. If you read one book this year (or this week) make this the book you read. Deren Ludd is an overlooked treasure!