William Burroughs and the Secret of Fascination (Paperback)

~ Professor Oliver Harris (Author) "The fascination of William Burroughs, which somehow always precedes the writing that yet produces it, is a paradox already at work in his first appearance..." (more)
Key Phrases: junk paradigm, epistolary economy, whale drek, Naked Lunch, William Lee, Slave Trader (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This investigation . . .of Burroughs's early career stands as a useful challenge to previous critical work on this most unusual writer." -- Gay and Lesbian Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Harris’s study goes deeply into its subject, providing the valuable service of untangling the manuscripts, repositioning events in chronological time, and drawing sound implications and conclusions from myth and legend.”—Regina Weinreich, American Book Review

“William Burroughs and the Secret of Fascination sets a new standard for Burroughs criticism. The book combines close textual readings, astute analysis and detailed research into the original letters and manuscripts, while drawing on more or less every other critical work on Burroughs published to date.”—Times Literary Supplement

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Product Details Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press; 1st edition (August 17, 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 0809327317 ISBN-13: 978-0809327317 Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,874,141 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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First Sentence:
The fascination of William Burroughs, which somehow always precedes the writing that yet produces it, is a paradox already at work in his first appearance. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
junk paradigm, epistolary economy, whale drek, carny man, talking asshole, main anecdote, unpredictable human factor, letter routine, epistolary relation, epistolary practice, textual politics, real novel, soft machine, epistolary fiction, automatic obedience, textual body, routine form

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Naked Lunch, William Lee, Slave Trader, The Yage Letters, Skip Tracer, Mexico City, William Burroughs, Ace Books, Word Cultures, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Murphy, Composite City, Selected Letters, Ugly Spirit, Carl Solomon, Driving Lesson, New York, Robin Lydenberg, David Savran, South America, The Soft Machine, The Ticket That Exploded, Steven Shaviro, Beat Generation, Billy Bradshinkel

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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 100 books:

• Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs on 102 pages
• The Yage Letters by William S. Burroughs on 20 pages
• Kafka Penal Colony by Franz Kafka on 5 pages
• Beat Generation by Jack Kerouac on 4 pages
• The Sheltering Sky (P.S.) by Paul Bowles on page 181, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 100 books this book cites

 

5 books cite this book:

• Retaking the Universe: William S. Burroughs in the Age of Globalization by Davis Schneiderman on 4 pages
• Morocco Bound: Disorienting America’s Maghreb, from Casablanca to the Marrakech Express (New Americanists) by Brian T.Edwards in Back Matter
• Reconstructing the Beats by Jennie Skerl in Back Matter
• Reconstructing the Beats by Jennie Skerl in Back Matter
• Junky: The Definitive Text of Junk (50th Anniversary Edition) by William S. Burroughs in Front Matter

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Books on Related Topics (learn more)

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The Letters of William S. Burroughs, Vol. 1 by William Burroughs

Discusses:

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The Beats by Matt Theado

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Retaking the Universe by Davis Schneiderman

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Conversations with William S. Burroughs by William Burroughs

Discusses:

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How We Became Posthuman by N. Katherine Hayles Discusses: soft machine textual body The Ticket That Exploded Word Virus by James Grauerholz Discusses: talking asshole letter routine red night trilogy The Letters of William S. Burroughs, Vol. 1 by William Burroughs Discusses: whale drek Naked Lunch William Lee The Beats by Matt Theado Discusses: soft machine Naked Lunch William Burroughs Loading...

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	39% buy the item featured on this page: William Burroughs and the Secret of Fascination 3.0 out of 5 stars (1) $30.00
	17% buy Junky: The Definitive Text of Junk (50th Anniversary Edition) 4.3 out of 5 stars (95) $10.20
	17% buy Letters of William S. Burroughs: Book 2 $9.56
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1 Review 5 star:    (0) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 3.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Thorough and Useful, But Not Especially "Fascinating", March 31, 2009 By  WaxNostalgic (Nom De Plume) - See all my reviews Harris' most valuable contributions to Burroughs scholarship have been in the relics he's unearthed from various archives: early drafts, notebook reproductions, correspondence, etc. Harris has also been very good at placing these materials in their proper context within the Burroughs canon, showing how and why they might matter. Here, he attempts a full-length forensic report of what seems to be his favorite era, Burroughs' pre-Naked Lunch period, with mixed results. If anyone ever thought that their own "fascination" with Burroughs' work was a bit extreme, Harris will provide some serious perspective. After reading his interpretations of the cover image (a dewey-eyed paean that takes up two or three pages), of the formative Burroughs-Ginsberg correspondence, or of Harris' own exploits mapping and photographing every alley in Tangier, one gets the sense that Harris crossed over from "fascination" to "obesession" with his subject long ago. Harris spends his life stalking Burroughs' ghost so we don't have to, a hard job indeed, so kudos to him for that. Much of this book finds Harris trying to debunk the myths that have grown around Burroughs' life and work. His alternate explanations for the various notches in the Burroughs timeline are perhaps the most refreshing aspect of this book. However, it's an exercise that quickly makes Harris come off as just plain willfully contrary. If critical consensus is that some area of Burroughs' work is inconsequential, you can expect that Harris will argue that it is one of the most crucial. And if some aspect of Burroughs' work is generally considered to be noteworthy and influential, Harris will argue that people are just diffusing their attention. This reaches absurd depths when Harris takes critics to task for their misplaced emphasis on the "Talking Ahole" routine in Naked Lunch, immediately followed by an entire chapter devoted to analyzing that very same section... and very little else in the novel. Critics don't make a name for themselves regurgitating other critics, and Burroughs scholarship needs an Oliver Harris to challenge the received wisdom... But on the whole, following Harris down his rabbit holes yields little beyond the tiresome sense that he is trying to recruit readers into an epic series of pssing matches with other critics. In fact, a better title for this book really would be "My Pssng Matches with Other So-Called Burroughs Scholars." Perhaps Harris would find a more sympathetic audience in his continued efforts to revise and rewrite -- er, create 'restored editions' -- of the Burroughs canon.		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press; 1st edition (August 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809327317
• ISBN-13: 978-0809327317
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,874,141 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Thorough and Useful, But Not Especially "Fascinating", March 31, 2009

By	WaxNostalgic (Nom De Plume) - See all my reviews

Harris' most valuable contributions to Burroughs scholarship have been in the relics he's unearthed from various archives: early drafts, notebook reproductions, correspondence, etc. Harris has also been very good at placing these materials in their proper context within the Burroughs canon, showing how and why they might matter. Here, he attempts a full-length forensic report of what seems to be his favorite era, Burroughs' pre-Naked Lunch period, with mixed results.

If anyone ever thought that their own "fascination" with Burroughs' work was a bit extreme, Harris will provide some serious perspective. After reading his interpretations of the cover image (a dewey-eyed paean that takes up two or three pages), of the formative Burroughs-Ginsberg correspondence, or of Harris' own exploits mapping and photographing every alley in Tangier, one gets the sense that Harris crossed over from "fascination" to "obesession" with his subject long ago. Harris spends his life stalking Burroughs' ghost so we don't have to, a hard job indeed, so kudos to him for that.

Much of this book finds Harris trying to debunk the myths that have grown around Burroughs' life and work. His alternate explanations for the various notches in the Burroughs timeline are perhaps the most refreshing aspect of this book.

However, it's an exercise that quickly makes Harris come off as just plain willfully contrary. If critical consensus is that some area of Burroughs' work is inconsequential, you can expect that Harris will argue that it is one of the most crucial. And if some aspect of Burroughs' work is generally considered to be noteworthy and influential, Harris will argue that people are just diffusing their attention.

This reaches absurd depths when Harris takes critics to task for their misplaced emphasis on the "Talking Ahole" routine in Naked Lunch, immediately followed by an entire chapter devoted to analyzing that very same section... and very little else in the novel.

Critics don't make a name for themselves regurgitating other critics, and Burroughs scholarship needs an Oliver Harris to challenge the received wisdom... But on the whole, following Harris down his rabbit holes yields little beyond the tiresome sense that he is trying to recruit readers into an epic series of pssing matches with other critics.

In fact, a better title for this book really would be "My Pssng Matches with Other So-Called Burroughs Scholars." Perhaps Harris would find a more sympathetic audience in his continued efforts to revise and rewrite -- er, create 'restored editions' -- of the Burroughs canon.