William S. Burroughs At the Front: Critical Reception, 1959 - 1989 - Softcover

Jennie Skerl (editor)|Robin Lydenberg (editor)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0809315866 ISBN 13: 9780809315864

Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991

Synopsis

Jennie Skerl and Robin Lydenberg have selected twenty-five critical essays on Burroughs that reflect the historical reception of his work, both positive and negative, decade by decade, and that represent the best essays written about him.

 

The essays cover Burroughs’ major novels—including the cut-up and new trilogies—the censorship issue, and his work in film and painting. The chronological organization brings into critical focus the shift from moral questions raised by the novels’ content, through examinations of Burroughs’ relationship to humanism and modernism, and finally to more focused literary and linguistic issues. In their introduction, the editors survey the progress of Burroughs’ critical reception and examine the reasons for the varied and intense responses to the work and the theoretical assumptions behind those responses.

 

The reviewers include prominent figures such as Mary McCarthy and Marshall McLuhan as well as major academic critics such as Cary Nelson, Tony Tanner, and Ihab Hassan.

 

 

About this title

About the Author

Jennie Skerl is Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Robin Lydenberg is Professor of English at Boston College.

Edition details

• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0809315866
• ISBN 13: 9780809315864
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288