Catalog / Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch
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William S. Burroughs
A fragmented, hallucinatory narrative moves through addiction, control, violence, and the margins. The book became an emblem of the Beat Generation and experimental writing.
- First publication
- Publisher
- Olympia Press
- Original language
- English
- ISBN-10
- 0802122078
- ISBN-13
- 9780802122070
- ASIN
- 0802122078
Why was Naked Lunch challenged?
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs is in this catalog because a sourced record documents an at-risk action in United States in 1965. The book was ruled obscene by a Boston court in 1965; that decision was reversed the following year.
The catalog records the scope as distribution. That is not a claim that the book is banned everywhere, or that a failed complaint has the same force as a prohibition. Open the sources under Bans and restrictions. Unsourced rumors are omitted.
Readers who search “why was Naked Lunch banned” should read the status label first. Banned, restricted, and at risk are defined on the methodology page and are not interchangeable.
Bans and restrictions
At risk · Distribution
The book was ruled obscene by a Boston court in 1965; that decision was reversed the following year.
A major historical U.S. obscenity trial.
- Source → Banned & Challenged Classics American Library Association
Other questions
- Is Naked Lunch banned?
- In this catalog the primary documented status is “at risk” in United States, 1965. That is not a worldwide ban. Scope and sources are listed below.
- Why was Naked Lunch challenged?
- The book was ruled obscene by a Boston court in 1965; that decision was reversed the following year.
Related banned books
Same author or shared themes in the catalog.
Entry last updated .
Read an available edition
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