Interzone

Hhmm.. well there's another edition listed here from Penguin, same date, same ISBN, different cover, &, most importantly, DIFFERENT NUMBER OF PAGES. It's an Amazon listing wch I've come to learn means OFTEN WRONG, sometimes DRASTICALLY WRONG - like listing the wrong author, giving a bk description that's for a completely different bk, etc. I suppose those mistakes cd've been added by someone else later & might not always originate w/ Amazon but if I see a mistake or something that seems wrong I always check to see if it's an Amazon entry & if it is then that adds further likelihood that what seems wrong really is a mistake. ANYWAY, rather than change the number of pages on the already existing entry, I've just made this new one - that show more way I can add the correct cover art for the edition I'm reviewing.

"Interzone": by the time I got around to reading this one, I was long-since a bit burnt-out on Burroughs. James Grauerholz edited it. I think this was earlier writings compiled at a later date. Now Grauerholz is to be commended for gathering all this. I always had the impression that Grauerholz helped organize Burroughs' life & writings in such a way so that Burroughs cd make a better (& well-deserved) living off of his writing. That's all well & good. But I read an interview w/ Grauerholz once where he sd something snotty about Burroughs' son - something along the lines of Grauerholz obviously being the object of Burroughs' affection & not B's son. G seemed to revel in this. That seemed particularly vicious & repulsive to me so it contributed to my dislike of G. Maybe that's ridiculous of me: after all, I don't know the guy, printed matter interviews are hardly to be trusted, etc.. Nonetheless, anything edited by Grauerholz has always seemed somewhat tainted to me.

SO, when I read "Interzone", I just didn't care anymore. What had intrigued me about Burroughs I'd long since become jaded to. The ideas weren't fresh anymore. Still, that's only b/c of the way the bk fit into my personal trajectory. A fresh reader who'd never read Burroughs before wd, quite probably, find it an astounding & important bk. show less

A miscellany and as such, maybe not of interest to the passing reader. The variety of material is disconcerting-- from verbal sketch to travelogue to unmitigated logorrhea --but well worth the time of anyone who wants (or needs) to learn more about what Burroughs wanted (or needed) to achieve.

the first collection of b-sides and rarities, from the period when burroughs was finding his way as a writer. essential if you're already a fan