Largely written in Tangiers, where Burroughs lived for several years before moving to Paris, The Naked Lunch has strong themes of drug addiction and homosexuality. Loose pages of manuscript had to be rescued by his friends, typed up and placed in some semblance of order before Maurice Girodias, the legendary Parisian owner of the Olympia Press, could be persuaded to publish it as a fitting addition to his successful line of books; books that were viewed by most simply as pornography. While much early pornography seems tame by today s standards The Naked Lunch still has the power to shock. I am offering a copy of the true first printing (with the price shown as Francs 1,500) but with a faded spine and some staining to edges and prelims.