Exterminator

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: "Exterminator" is made up of a series of short passages that are somehow connected (i think?). There are some parts in the book that I found extremely interesting, like DE (do easy), the idea that evey object has its place, and if it is not in that place it will get in your way; and everything must be done in the easiest possible way. The style of writing may be hard to follow at first, because some of it is in Burrough's cut up style, and the sentences seem to go on and on, but is part of what makes this book unique. Also, this book contains the chapter "The Priest They Called Him" which Burroughs read for his collaboration with Kurt Cobain. And "The End" was used for the Ministry song "Quick Fix". I recommend this book if you are in the mood for an interesting, strange, and unique reading experience.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: "Exterminator" is made up of a series of short passages that are somehow connected (i think?). There are some parts in the book that I found extremely interesting, like DE (do easy), the idea that evey object has its place, and if it is not in that place it will get in your way; and everything must be done in the easiest possible way. The style of writing may be hard to follow at first, because some of it is in Burrough's cut up style, and the sentences seem to go on and on, but is part of what makes this book unique. Also, this book contains the chapter "The Priest They Called Him" which Burroughs read for his collaboration with Kurt Cobain. And "The End" was used for the Ministry song "Quick Fix". I recommend this book if you are in the mood for an interesting, strange, and unique reading experience.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: "Exterminator" is made up of a series of short passages that are somehow connected (i think?). There are some parts in the book that I found extremely interesting, like DE (do easy), the idea that evey object has its place, and if it is not in that place it will get in your way; and everything must be done in the easiest possible way. The style of writing may be hard to follow at first, because some of it is in Burrough's cut up style, and the sentences seem to go on and on, but is part of what makes this book unique. Also, this book contains the chapter "The Priest They Called Him" which Burroughs read for his collaboration with Kurt Cobain. And "The End" was used for the Ministry song "Quick Fix". I recommend this book if you are in the mood for an interesting, strange, and unique reading experience.

Rating:
Summary: review of Exterminator!
Review: "Present time is a film and if you are on set in present time you don't feel present time because you are in it(...) So what is the film made of? JUNK. The more you use the more you need. And where does that end?(...) How many of you people can live without film coverage? How many of you can forget you were ever a cop a priest a writer leave everything behind and walk right out of the film? There is no place else to go. The theatre is closed." (taken from: 'The End', one of the stories in 'Exterminator!')

Rating:
Summary: Burroughs disconnects
Review: ...and in the case of "Exterminator!" that's not a good thing. Granted, this sloppy collection of short stories stitched together as a novel will appeal to fans of the author's fragmented, "Naked Lunch" style (run-on sentences, nonsensical incidents, etc.)... but will likely turn anyone else off. The first hundred pages, especially, consist of some of the most alienated, distant, and boring prose I've ever read. For the rest of the novel, however, there are poignant and poetic passages relating to politics, the Vietnam war, and racial and sexual discrimination, among other things, so "Exterminator!" isn't entirely worthless, but it's a far cry from Burroughs' best work.

Rating:
Summary: Burroughs disconnects
Review: ...and in the case of "Exterminator!" that's not a good thing. Granted, this sloppy collection of short stories stitched together as a novel will appeal to fans of the author's fragmented, "Naked Lunch" style (run-on sentences, nonsensical incidents, etc.)... but will likely turn anyone else off. The first hundred pages, especially, consist of some of the most alienated, distant, and boring prose I've ever read. For the rest of the novel, however, there are poignant and poetic passages relating to politics, the Vietnam war, and racial and sexual discrimination, among other things, so "Exterminator!" isn't entirely worthless, but it's a far cry from Burroughs' best work.

Rating:
Summary: Half-sane and descriptive-less intro to Extermination
Review: Ammm... Huh. Burroughs flits flutters thru eyes like brown beacons to attract lusty exterminators... High on black centipede dust... Fondling remembrances of the Lemon Kid.. Oh... You're new around here, well, as good a spot as any to begin...

Unlike other Interzone pieces, here you feel as new jelly... Comfortable, yet gelatinous. The Liquefaction agents cheer through Mexico and law disorders... Everything is addiction... BUt No hangings here... Must for neophytes, tame for WIlliam S, after all... Then you are ready, as a new agent,..,.,.. to go on to deeper levels.

Rating:
Summary: bits and pieces of the genius
Review: As fragmentation was always Burroughs trademark, this collection of short stories or pieces of prose and some poems fits in with the whole of his oeuvre perfectly well, because it sheds light on some dark passages of his earlier work. Moreover it is essential in that it contains some of his most lyrical prose, the tale of the Priest has a transcending beauty resembling that of Joyce's The Dead. Where in the Wild Boys his straightforward attempts at more traditional writing failed occasionaly in blending with his experimental voice for which he is so renown, here they serve as counterpoints that have their own mysterious power, be it that there are also traces of the writers block that was building up inside of Burroughs round the time this was published. It was not before Places of the Dead Roads that he would fully realize and bring to bloom the possibilities created by this endeavour, although in a way this book can be seen as a try out for his epical masterpiece Cities of the Red Night that lacks the flow of the phrases that shine from the pages of this flawed gem.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite Burroughs volume
Review: EXTERMINATOR! A NOVEL is without any question my favorite William S. Burroughs book. The "A Novel" of the title must surely be ironic, because the book is not in any recognizable sense a novel. It is a collection of largely unconnected sketches and scenes. Not every section is a masterpiece, but several are among the most surreal and brilliant things that Burroughs ever wrote. And for anyone who has not previously read any Burroughs, it is a brilliant introduction. I personally find it far more accessible and enjoyable than NAKED LUNCH, which, while it has many fine passages, nonetheless can at times become tedious.

Although by and large the various parts are unconnected, several are focused on the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. In particular, the amazingly creative and hysterically funny "The Coming of the Purple Better One" takes that as its locale. The "Purple Better One" of the title refers to a baboon that is placed upon the convention podium, and upon whose face is superimposed the face of a white Southern, racist politician, whose recorded speech is then played. It is one of the more bizarre, brilliant, and absurd scenes in recent American literature. Another favorite is "The Discipline of DE," the DE standing for "Do Easy." The story is a strange blend of Zen Buddhist tract and self-help manifestation. Other favorites include the title story, with the narrator/exterminator repeating ominously "You want the service?" and a supposed film treatment "Twilight's Last Gleamings."

The collection features many of the themes usually associated with Burroughs: Sci-fi, fantasy, drugs, usual medical practices and phenomena, governmental nefariousness, and the corruption of capitalistic life.

Rating:
Summary: the end
Review: Slow and between the ruins of western civilization,Burroughs discovers the new religion of the flesh.....YES