The Soft Machine. William S. Burroughs

      THE SOFT MACHINE

      Other Works by William S. Burroughs Published by Grove Press

      Junky: The Definitive Text of “Junk”

      Naked Lunch: The Restored Text

      The Ticket That Exploded: The Restored Text

      Nova Express: The Restored Text

      The Adding Machine: Selected Essays

      The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead

      Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader

      Last Words: The Final Journals of William Burroughs

      THE SOFT

      MACHINE

      The Restored Text

      William S. Burroughs

      Edited and with an Introduction by

      Oliver Harris

      Grove Press

      New York

      Copyright © 1961, 1966 by William S. Burroughs

      Copyright © 2014 by the Estate of William S. Burroughs

      Introduction copyright © 2014 Oliver Harris

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 154 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011 or [email protected].

      Third revised edition published by Grove Press in 2014.

      Published simultaneously in Canada

      Printed in the United States of America

      ISBN: 978-0-8021-2211-7

      eISBN: 978-0-8021-9721-4

      Grove Press

      an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

      154 West 14th Street

      New York, NY 10011

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

       www.groveatlantic.com

      Contents

       Acknowledgements

       Introduction

       Dead On Arrival

       Who Am I To Be Critical?

       Public Agent

       Trak Trak Trak

       Early Answer

       Case Of The Celluloid Kali

       The Mayan Caper

       I Sekuin

       Pretend An Interest

       Last Hints

       Where The Awning Flaps

       1920 Movies

       Where You Belong

       Uranian Willy

       Gongs Of Violence

       Male Image Back In

       Dead Fingers Talk

       Cross The Wounded Galaxies

      Appendices

       1 From The Soft Machine (1961)

       2 “Operation Soft Machine/Cut” (1961)

       3 From The Soft Machine (1968)

       4 Appendix to The Soft Machine (1968)

       Notes

      Acknowledgments

      It is a privilege to edit works by William Burroughs, and a pleasure to thank James Grauerholz for making it possible and for all the support he has given. It is also a pleasure to thank the following for their expert help: Jed Birmingham for assistance with little magazines; Nicole Dittrich at Syracuse University; Ella Harris for typing out the 1961 edition; Bill McArthur, Stewart Smith, and Brian Schottlander; and above all, Véronique Lane, for working with me from start to finish, being by my side in the archival vaults, sharing ideas, reading every word I wrote, and for living with the Centipede People and the Crab Boys for the last two years.

      For the great archival assistance they have provided, I also want to thank John Bennett of the Rare Books and Manuscript Library at Ohio State University, Columbus; Rob Spindler of the Archives and Special Collections at Arizona State University, Tempe; Isaac Gewirtz, Curator of the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library, and his staff; the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries; Cath Tierney of Green Library, Stanford University; Elspeth Healey, Special Collections Librarian at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, Universtiy of Kansas, Lawrence; and Michael Ryan and all his staff at the Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Columbia University. I would also like to acknowledge the support of the Research Institute for the Humanities at Keele University. Thanks finally to Jeff Posternak of the Wylie Agency, a great guy to have on your side, and to Peter Blackstock at Grove Press.

      Introduction

      SOLA