Dead Fingers Talk

Dead Fingers Talk

1963 British hardcover edition.
Author	William S. Burroughs
Country	United States
Language	English
Publisher	Calder
Publication date	1963
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)

Dead Fingers Talk, first published in 1963, was the fifth novel published by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs. The book was originally published by John Calder in association with Olympia Press.

The book combines sections from Burroughs' earlier novels, Naked Lunch, The Soft Machine and The Ticket That Exploded, in an attempt to create a new narrative. It is sometimes referred to as a compilation, but this is technically incorrect. Its plot cannot be easily described, although it can be said focuses upon conspiracy and the hero getting away from the police. Although the publisher John Calder claimed that it contained previously unpublished material, this extra text has never been identified.

Dead Fingers Talk, like many of Burroughs' works, was controversial upon its release. It was the subject of a scathing review in the Times Literary Supplement that resulted in a war of words between supporters and detractors of the novel (and Burroughs in general) that played out in the magazine's letters page for months.

The book itself is considered one of the rarer of Burroughs' novels, and despite some reprints in the 1970s, has otherwise been out of print for years.

External links

• Collecting Dead Fingers Talk Article discussing the collectibility of Dead Fingers Talk
• Dead Fingers Talk: The Tap Experiments of William S Burroughs