was the book 'Naked Lunch' really written while the author was high?

Question

I read in another book (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) that the book 'Naked Lunch' was written while the author was high on heroin.. but when i looked it up no one really mentioned it. That's a pretty huge detail and i assume it wouldve been mentioned if it was true.. but then again its not like i just heard that, i read it in a book. so yeah- does anyone know the truth?

Answer 1

According to Wikipedia:"All signs pointed him back to Tangier, a place where his parents would have to continue the support and one where drugs were freely available. He left in November 1954 and spent the next four years there working on the fiction that would later become Naked Lunch, as well as attempting to write commercial articles about Tangier. He sent these writings to Ginsberg, his literary agent for Junkie, but none were published until 1989 when Interzone, a collection of short stories was published. Under the strong influence of marijuana and a German made opiate called Eukodol, Burroughs settled in to write. Eventually, Ginsberg and Kerouac, who had traveled to Tangier in 1957, helped Burroughs edit these episodes into Naked Lunch'. "

Burroughs quit heroin many times, and he wrote the manuscript in episodes, in many different places throughout a span of years. He very possibly was on heroin for some parts of the writing of the book, and certainly did other drugs while writing it, but I doubt he was high on heroin for every word he wrote.
I also read the perks of being a wallflower....try reading Junky instead. It's a much more interesting book. In my opinion, I imagine it would be hard writing while on heroin. But Junky is very easily understood and would have a better biographical insight into whether or not Burroughs could have handled writing while in such an extremely altered state of mind, since it describes his heroin use and the feelings it induced....I can't remember exactly, though I know that the book is not completely factual (he omits plenty of things about his unique life). But it is much easier and more logical than Naked Lunch.

Answer 2

Naked Lunch Author

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
was the book 'Naked Lunch' really written while the author was high?
I read in another book (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) that the book 'Naked Lunch' was written while the author was high on heroin.. but when i looked it up no one really mentioned it. That's a pretty huge detail and i assume it wouldve been mentioned if it was true.. but then again...

Answer 4

That's one possibility. The other, and I think probably more accurate, is that Burroughs, upon completing the book, cut it up line by line and glued it back together in no particular order. That's what all the biographies and criticisms I've read about him and "Naked Lunch" say.

Answer 5

William S. Burroughs, the author of "NAked Lunch" was well known as an heroin addict, and as most of his writing was at least semi-autobiographical, it is most likely that he was indeed high when he wrote it.

Wikipedia has quite a lot of imformation about his life and writings, but there is so much I won't post it here, instead the link is attached.

Answer 6

The Doors Of Perception by Aldous Huxley,The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe,Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge,Everything that Gertrude Stein wrote,Every Beatles song from 1965 to 1970,all on drugs.Jim Morrison took the name of his band from Aldous Huxley's book.They were all tripping on LSD when they created their most popular music.

Answer 7

William Burroughs is well known for his heroin addiction.