William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

Naked Lunch is a very familiar title, and an oft-cited work when it comes to postmodern literature. It works interestingly as a conceptual piece, but not so much as a book one would actually want to read.

I made it most of the way through, but it was so repetitive (due to Burroughs' cut-up method) that I did go ahead an skip the last several chapters, something I rarely do. Instead, I wrapped it up and put it under the tree for my dad, who thought, despite my descriptions, that he would enjoy it. I have my doubts, but now it's in his hands!

Whether I just didn't get it, or because today's culture is so different from the one in which it was written, I found the "novel" neither particularly impressive, shocking, creative or innovative--and certainly not enjoyable. This is another one I would not recommend; a brief skim should be sufficient, I think, for the curious.