The Western Lands - Hardcover

Burroughs, William S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670813524 ISBN 13: 9780670813520

Publisher: The Viking Press, 1987

Synopsis

Drawing heavily on Egyptian mythology, this visionary novel follows Joe the Dead, Kim Carsons, Neferti, Hassan i Sabbah, and the Old Man of the Mountains on their hazardous pilgrimage toward immortality

About this title

About the Author

William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) was an American author, painter, and spoken-word performer who has had a wide-ranging influence on American culture. Jack Kerouac called him the "greatest satirical writer since Jonathan Swift." Norman Mailer declared him "the only American writer who may be conceivably possessed by genius." A postmodernist and a key figure of the beat generation, he focused his art on a relentless subversion of the moral, political, and economic conventions of modern American society, as reflected in his often darkly humorous and sardonic satire. He wrote eighteen novels and novellas, six short-story collections, and four collections of essays. No fewer than five books of his interviews and correspondence have been published. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians and made many appearances in films. He was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1983 and in the following year was appointed to the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

From Publishers Weekly

The trilogy that began with Cities of the Red Night (1981) and continued with The Place of Dead Roads (1983) is completed here, and the result is a divine comedy. Although this final volume is a significant work on its own merits, one must wade through the chaotic and at times unintelligible Cities and the more coherent though by no means easy Place to fully understand why The Western Lands is a remarkable achievement. While the plot resists encapsulation, in general terms it concerns the search for eternal rest that is symbolized by the Western Lands of Egyptian mythology. Among those involved in the quest are many characters from the earlier books in the trilogy, as well as a few from Naked Lunch; not the least of them is Burroughs himself. While Burroughs's ability to create and describe vast, hellish landscapes has never been denied, often there has been no character with whom the reader can empathize. Here, however, an empathetic bond is established in passages describing the fear of death, where Burroughs speaks more directly than usual, sometimes in the guise of old, forgotten novelist William Seward Hall, sometimes forthrightly and freely in his authorial voice. As a result, Burroughs fans will find this narrative vivid, horrifying, beautiful and sad.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: The Viking Press
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0670813524
• ISBN 13: 9780670813520
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 258