Books

First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Richard, William Burroughs, 21 October 1982". Inscribed copies of Burroughs's controversial novel are rare; this copy was inscribed while the author was on his "Final Academy" tour of Britain, a celebration of his work and its influences. This copy has the overprice stamp of 18 francs on the rear wrapper, considered a point of second issue. Naked Lunch was censored in America when extracts were printed in the literary journals the Chicago Review (1958) and Big Table (1959), and it was not published in the country in full until 1962. Maynard & Miles A2a. Small octavo. Original green wrappers lettered in black, spine and front cover with decorative borders in black and white. With printed card dust jacket. Tiny ink ownership signature on front free endpaper of one C. Endinicos (?). Spine toned, slight wear at foot, a few spots of rubbing at extremities, faint mark to lower edge; jacket unclipped, faintly toned spine panel slightly nicked and creased at ends, shallow loss at head of front cover, short closed tear at foot: a near-fine copy in like jacket.

The Naked Lunch (sometimes referred to as Naked Lunch) is a novel by American writer William S. Burroughs. The book is structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes, following the shifting and hallucinatory perspectives of a junkie protagonist.