William Burroughs’s 1980 novel

Port of Saints

(a substantial revision of the novel first published in 1973) predominantly serves as a continuation and elaboration of the utopian mythology he introduces in

The Wild Boys

. The Wild Boy community consists of a multicultural group of adolescent boys who stage a revolution against what Burroughs views as a matriarchal mainstream society. The Wild Boys, often depicted wearing nothing but jockstraps and roller skates and carrying knives, eschew all contact with women and reproduce through an asexual process that endows them with various psychic and/or supernatural abilities. These special abilities are a part of the Wild Boys’ arsenal of weapons to be used against the CIA, the Darlings—“an elite army of Lesbian commandos” (

Port

1373 words

Citation: Bolton, Michael Sean. "Port of Saints". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 October 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2612, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2612 Port of Saints 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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