Interzone (book)
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Interzone is the title of a collection of short stories and other early works by William S. Burroughs. The collection was first published by Viking Penguin in 1989, although several of the stories had already been printed elsewhere, including an earlier publication entitled Early Routines. The title Interzone is inspired by the International Zone in Tangiers, Morocco, where Burroughs lived for a time and by which he was greatly influenced.
A notable inclusion is "Twilight's Last Gleamings", written in 1938 in collaboration with childhood friend Kells Elvins, and widely thought to be Burroughs' first attempt at fiction. The villain of the piece, one Doctor Benway, was to play a pivotal role in Burroughs' later masterpiece Naked Lunch. (This is a different story than another Burroughs piece titled "Twilight's Last Gleamings" which was published in the 1970s collection, Exterminator!.)
Interzone features many characters and concepts that would manifest themselves in Burroughs' most famous books such as Naked Lunch, Nova Express and others. In fact, the title Interzone was at one point considered for Naked Lunch. and the concluding section, entitled "WORD", was part of the original Naked Lunch manuscript but was cut during the editing process. Interzone represents a transitional phase between the first-person traditional narrative style of "Junky" and "Queer", and the later, more experimental work.
Several of the short pieces in Interzone were adapted into other media. Burroughs recorded versions of the stories "The Junky's Christmas" and "Spare Ass Annie" which were set to music and released on his album Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales. "Junky's Christmas" was also adapted as an acclaimed animated film in the 1990s.
The book is edited by Burroughs' longtime assistant, James Grauerholz.
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