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172nd out of 325 books
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371 voters
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Exterminator!
Conspirators plot to explode a train carrying nerve gas. A perfect servant suddenly reveals himself to be the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. Science-fantasy wars, racism, corporate capitalism, drug addiction, and various medical and psychiatric horrors all play their parts in this mosaiclike, experimental novel. Here is William S. Burroughs at his coruscating and hilarious best.
Paperback, 168 pages
Published
March 29th 2001
by Penguin (Non-Classics)
(first published 1969)
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By the time I hit 21 my impressions of William S. Burroughs included:
1. Al Jorgensen was a fan. I remember a picture of the two together.
2. Heroin.
3. Short guy with a hat.
4. Burroughs killing his wife while trying to shoot an apple off her head.
I’m not sure from where these impressions emerged. Ok, #1 can probably be attributed to a picture on the Wax Trax walls, if my memory serves me well, but the others impressions’ origins are lost. I didn’t add t...more
1. Al Jorgensen was a fan. I remember a picture of the two together.
2. Heroin.
3. Short guy with a hat.
4. Burroughs killing his wife while trying to shoot an apple off her head.
I’m not sure from where these impressions emerged. Ok, #1 can probably be attributed to a picture on the Wax Trax walls, if my memory serves me well, but the others impressions’ origins are lost. I didn’t add t...more
view all 6 comments
Exterminator! by William S. Burroughs
Final Verdict: 3.25 out of 4.0
YTD: 37
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Plot/Story:
3 – Plot/Story is interesting & believable.
Exterminator! is a loosely-related collection of 30 short stories, all neurotically obsessed with the American human condition before & during the 1960s. Like many of his other works, these stories are threaded w...more
Final Verdict: 3.25 out of 4.0
YTD: 37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plot/Story:
3 – Plot/Story is interesting & believable.
Exterminator! is a loosely-related collection of 30 short stories, all neurotically obsessed with the American human condition before & during the 1960s. Like many of his other works, these stories are threaded w...more
I liked this book much more than Burrough's "Naked Lunch". Firstly, it's not written in that airtihgt vocabuLary wich is understandable only to author and a few drug addicts. It has a pretty decent fable in a form of short stories. We can see, as we progress through the book, that the characters are pretty much the same, although with different names. But what I liked the most about the book is the way Burroughs speaks about humanity and revolution. He says so much with such simple ter...more
Another solid Burroughs book. Seemed to be very similar in theme, imagery and structure to CITIES OF THE RED NIGHT, although CITIES did seem to have a bit more connectivity between the chapters or pieces. --And if I read (--or see it anywhere, without actually reading the whole thing--) that Norman Mailer quote saying "...Burroughs is the only American writing today who may conceivably be possessed of genius," I am going to be upset; although I don't want to take anything away from eit...more
The closest to a short story collection by the cranky and hysterical William S. Burroughs. And the fact that he once had a job as rat and insect Exterminator is something like crazy. Who in their right mind would allow this guy into their home?
Excellent collection of short stories showcasing some of the author's best work. My favorites, " Wind Die, You die, We die" and my all-time favorite, " They Do Not Always Remember."
the prose is more cohesive and cogent than naked lunch, so for anyone put off by that novel, give this one a try. however, it was not as lucid as queer, either, but much more lyrical. if you take the book as a collection of paranoid stories, which they are for the most part, (and only as paranoid as a junkie or a schizophrenic can be) then you won't be disappointed by the fractured and disjointed nature of the novel as a whole.
I wasn't sure whether to give this 2 or 3 stars, it's really 2.5, based on Burrough's output I've read previously. I have to say, I was a little disappointed, in that, what I thought was a novella was actually loosely connected vignettes, that at times made little to no sense. However, some of them were quite good, and I like how Burroughs writes about his time in Chicago.
This book made me laugh out loud many times. Exterminator! contains 30 short stories. I particularly enjoyed the story about the 1968 Democratic convention entitled, "The coming of the purple better one". I laughed the hardest to this story particularly at the line, "I find myself in the second row of the nonviolent march feeling rather out of place since nonviolence is not exactly my program."
So THAT's why people praise Burroughs. I read Junky, which is fine, a few years back, but I was a little underwhelmed. This one I mostly read in a tent after everyone else had gone to sleep, and now I have a much better sense of how Burroughs fits into the continuum of weird fiction that I love (and why, for example, people like Grant Morrison owe him such a debt). I can understand why Exterminator! isn't for everyone (you have to be willing to let go of little things like characters and a plot)...more
Mark
added it
This is a 'experimental novel', supposedly, but I can't help looking at it as more of a collection of short texts. It's filled with some really amazing short stories which demonstrate Burrough's sense of humour so perfectly ('The Perfect Servant', 'Wind Die. We Die. You Die.' and 'the Priest they called him' being eternal favorites). There are also things which seem to be simply poems, or simply prose poems. Not that these things are completley unrelated... there are several recurring motifs tho...more
It helps to know that this is a collection of short stories. Something i didn't find out till i had began reading it. The synopsis on the back doesn't let you in on this fact.
This novel is more real than just about any piece of literature, whether fiction or non-fiction. Burroughs has tapped into the human and the world surrounded him.
Three-and-a-half stars. If it were any other author it would be more, but it's William Burroughs. It's very funny though.
Probably the most left-field novel I've come across. It could be seen as a collection of short stories based on a theme but I'm not convinced that would work. It has to be enjoyed better as a novel, without direction, plot or protagonist. You are the protagonist.
I don't know how it happened but I really enjoyed the trip. My first time with Burroughs; the man must be some kind of genius!
I don't know how it happened but I really enjoyed the trip. My first time with Burroughs; the man must be some kind of genius!
Pomona
added it
God, it's ages since I last read this enormously funny book. Have to love Burroughs" sense of humor.
Strange, weird, disjointed, but at the same time beautiful, poignant, and real. A confusing and delightful read.
one of my favorite collections of burroughs' writing.
One of the only books that made me laugh out loud
Excellent - the one "mid-period" book to read
T. Smith
added it
Mine's the 1979 Penguin edition.
Fawn
added it
?
After having read Naked Lunch, I just had to have more Burroughs, an this easily quenched my thirst. A collection of wild cut-ups, Exterminator! almost appears to take on the form of an appendage of the former, just as easily kicking you in the head with Burroughs's unconventional drug-stained world of writing.
Another great place to start with Burroughs. WSB shines for some in the short story form because he is less convoluted and more seemingly focused. Some of the best one-liners I've ever read have come out of this book. I first read it when I was 17 and have been quoting it every since. If you are familiar with WSB's spoken word, a large amount of it comes from here. From Brion Gysin... "Exterminate all rational thought!"
What I thought at first was a book turned into a short story collection, which became more of a book divided into chapters as short stories, which did pretty well to distinguish between the different fractured pieces of Exterminator!
Confused? Well, that's Burroughs. Some parts were better reads than others, and some details didn't make sense until much, much further along in other stories, but I enjoyed it on the whole.
Confused? Well, that's Burroughs. Some parts were better reads than others, and some details didn't make sense until much, much further along in other stories, but I enjoyed it on the whole.
Excellent Burroughs novel, constructed from some interesting vignettes. The story follows, among other things, a movie about a terrorist plot to unleash a train full of nerve gas, a very strange riot at the 1968 Democratic Convention, and a wolf-boy who can end a person's career with a single lemon. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys modern literature.
somewhere between naked lunch and a level of coherence closer to something by kerouac, this 'novel' shows how burrough's zany style can work to create a coherent narrative... sort of
The only Burroughs book I read twice. This is his most effective and coherent use of the cut-up technique. It didn't leave me at the end wondering what the @#%! I just read like some of his other novels. Great book.
Some of the social isssues addressed by this book may seem dated, but if you're in the mood for a poetic, psychotic vision of the demise of the human race, this is the book for you.
Like Naked Lunch? See how to deal with those nasty roaches.
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Burroughs was born into middle-class respectability and after studying English at Harvard and medicine in Vienna, trained as a glider pilot with the American military but was discharged as unfit for service in 194...more
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Burroughs was born into middle-class respectability and after studying English at Harvard and medicine in Vienna, trained as a glider pilot with the American military but was discharged as unfit for service in 194...more
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