Rating: 
Summary: TOTALLY AWESOME
Review: I really enjoyed this book more than THE SOfT MACHINE... It is very funny in a insane kind of way. His style of writing should be used by more authors. I am convinced it is one of the best out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-indulgent
Review: I enjoy reading literature, and am rarely disappointed when I read a book that has been labeled a classic. "Naked Lunch" is an exception. I had to force myself to finish this book, because it just did not really hold my interest at all. Although I could appreciate the dark, twisted, imaginative imagery, there was just no real story to speak of. There were hints of satire here and there, but then the prose would just descend into an incoherent mess. I can only recommend this book as a cautionary tale about the nightmarish, horrifying, delusional state that being a heroin junkie must put you in. For a more clear and coherent surreal pornographic nightmare, I'd recommend "Story of the Eye" ...
Rating:
Summary: Try It At least Once!
Review: Naked Lunch is the ultimate cut-up/quote bible/scrapbook of what it was like to be alive and a free-thinker in the Fifties. As well, the horrors of the "oil-burning junk habit" and the worlds in which the visionary dwells, are covered in great detail. There is somewhat of a back-story, dealing with a kind of Rodgers-and-Hammerstein-meets-HR-Giger-meet-sthe X Files cabal of aliens and other species infiltrating the human race. Burroughs sees himself as a catch-as-catch-can reporter on all this, "like an agent who has forgotten his own cover story [but] all agents defect and all resisters sell out." This book is one wild ride, and should be read as a poetic scrapbook. Definitely worth you time. Give it a shot! Other recents books I liked: WILL@epicqwest.com by Tom Grimes, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez
Rating: 
Summary: Reconsideration
Review: I reviewed this book some years ago (1997, I think) as a sophmore in high school - a time when one is easily swayed by such junk. Apparently, I really enjoyed this book; I gave it a five-star rating and a glowing review. But, again, I was only a sophmore and was somewhat taken by the whole notion of the "Beat Generation." I have moved pretty far beyond such drivel: a grad student, Joycean, Nabokophile, and fabulist.
The point is is that I reconsidered this text. For a laugh, I reread Naked Lunch and my review of it. My review was laughable because of my age and conceptions of worthy literature. And Naked Lunch was just as funny because of its overwhelming and glaring badness and lack of anything redeemable. And I think you (the potential buyer) needs to also reconsider your purchase. Naked Lunch is awful: since when have the intoxicated ramblings of a junkie ever been considered literature? And the whole story of it being a social document or a personal expose is pretty shaky ground. Literature is a carefully wrought expression of desire, pain, joy, etc. As Arnold Schoenberg so eloquently said: "Art is the cry of despair of those who experience in themselves the fate of all mankind." The implied statement Mr. Schoenberg would like to add for your clarification is: "Art does not have room for gentlemen like Mr. Burroughs because the weight of the world is lightened when you have a needle hanging from your arm and your find your foot facsinating."
Rating: 
Summary: Nightmares from junky limbo............
Review: Ever want to understand what its like to live in your most depraved state? Well William Burroughs hit the hammer on the head for me. This book is like a nightmare ranging from subtle shout outs from the sub-concious to full on mass orgies of blood and murder. Although sometimes hard to understand i think the book shouldn't be taken litteraly. Its more like trying to understand a dream or (no offense) reading the Bible.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant and well-crafted, but mysterious
Review: "Naked Lunch" is a challenge to read that rewards careful preparation. I got out some sliced turkey, a loaf of bread, and a glass of milk. It was about noon. Then I stripped off my clothes and sat down at the table and started to read. This set the mood, and I found that I understood the points the author was making much better this way. It was a little embarrassing when the magazine salesman came by, but he seemed to understand.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant and well-crafted, but mysterious
Review: "Naked Lunch" is a challenge to read that rewards careful preparation. I got out some sliced turkey, a loaf of bread, and a glass of milk. It was about noon. Then I stripped off my clothes and sat down at the table and started to read. This set the mood, and I found that I understood the points the author was making much better this way. It was a little embarrassing when the magazine salesman came by, but he seemed to understand.
Rating: 
Summary: not your high school cafeteria
Review: this book is not for everybody. it is a series of visionary vignettes that have a similar theme and are placed in a somewhat haphazard order. the theme is one of addiction of all types and the visions are indescribable. some chapters are better than others. an understanding of drug lexicon is very helpful. some of the concepts are intriguing. my favorite is "bureaucracy is the cancer of democracy". most readers will find parts of "naked lunch" tasty, parts will cause indigestion, and parts will be unchewable and indigestible. for those readers that can handle that---dig in!
Rating:
Summary: Trippy to the MAX!
Review: I was referred to this book after reading The Losers' Club by Richard Perez, and while that novel was full of crazy and bizarre people, nothing prepared me for what was in Naked Lunch!
I'll be honest, I was totally lost throughout most of the book until I came to the end and finally had a chance to think about it all. This truly the most bizarre and "far out" book I have ever read. And here's the catch: I liked it. In the end, I really liked it!!
Rating:
Summary: TOO MUCH
Review: this book makes me feel both mentally and physically disturbed. a big N O for me. a line has to be drawn up somewhere. the book does touch on the brutal hypocrisy of America and the world - however, this book goes way TOO FAR in its methods, methinks. give it a try if you're brave - I do honor it as possibly the most completely messed up book ever written. If you actually find yourself liking this genre, try Charles B.
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