Exterminator: Amazon.ca: William Burroughs: Books

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Some great stories, some stinkers, Sep 1 2008

By	Benjamin Anderson (Fredericton, NB CAN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read this book in February I believe so I do not recall a number of the short stories (thought I'd already done a review but guess not). I've owned Naked Lunch for a few years and never finished it. Too tedious even when I loved his writing style. Exterminator! is also a little tedious, which is where it loses points, but the overall experience is clever, funny, dark and hallucinatory. Some of the stories I can't really remember too well (which is reasonable considering how messed up and random they were) but I was rarely bored. I don't have the book and do not remember specific titles other than The Priest They Call Him (or something), so I won't go on about specific stories confusing you because I'll give a bs title.

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3.0 out of 5 stars A freaky, fractured vision, Aug 13 2002

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

The back cover of William S. Burroughs' "Exterminator!" describes the book as an "experimental novel." Because of the book's fragmented, mosaic-like structure, I think you could also describe it as a collection of experimental prose fragments. It's a blend of science fiction, political satire, and linguistic theory, punctuated by violence and gay sex. Burroughs sometimes uses language that mirrors cinematic techniques.

If there's a plot in here, it eluded me. Along the way the reader will encounter a secret agent, a pest exterminator, Scientology, the queen of England, and John Genet. "Exterminator!" is often outrageous and absurd; it feels at times like Burroughs is just writing to amuse himself.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Burroughs disconnects, Dec 13 2001

By	man_invisible (Dork, PA) - See all my reviews

...and in the case of "Exterminator!" that's not a good thing. Granted, this sloppy collection of short stories stitched together as a novel will appeal to fans of the author's fragmented, "Naked Lunch" style (run-on sentences, nonsensical incidents, etc.)... but will likely turn anyone else off. The first hundred pages, especially, consist of some of the most alienated, distant, and boring prose I've ever read. For the rest of the novel, however, there are poignant and poetic passages relating to politics, the Vietnam war, and racial and sexual discrimination, among other things, so "Exterminator!" isn't entirely worthless, but it's a far cry from Burroughs' best work.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
"Exterminator" is made up of a series of short passages that are somehow connected (i think?). Read more

Published on Jul 21 2001 by Mark Olesak

3.0 out of 5 stars the end
Slow and between the ruins of western civilization,Burroughs discovers the new religion of the flesh.....YES

Published on Aug 21 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars review of Exterminator!
"Present time is a film and if you are on set in present time you don't feel present time because you are in it(...) So what is the film made of? JUNK. Read more

Published on Jan 13 2000 by minroon

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensational Vietnam War-era literature.
This book is a period piece, but man, what a period piece. Essentially a collection of short stories surrounding the "revolution" of the 1960s, Burroughs tears into the... Read more

Published on April 17 1999 by msmith5@cc.gatech.edu