William Burroughs, Cities of the Red Night

Chad Weidner

Ed. by Christopher Hugh Gair, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1981

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Cities of the Red Night

was a late publication by William Burroughs. The book is the first of the

Red Night

trilogy, and is followed by

The Place of Dead Roads

(1983), and

The Western Lands

(1987).

Cities of the Red Night

deals with various issues such as access to health care, sustainable living, and forms of government that maximize human potential and individual liberty. Given the focus on sustainable culture and limiting government power, the book remains highly relevant today.

The arrival of Cities of the Red Night was important in the context of Burroughs’ career since it was the first new and complete novel in over a decade. Beginning with this book, Burroughs put great energy into envisioning alternative ways of thinking about the organization of human society. It is noteworthy

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670 words

Citation: Weidner, Chad. "Cities of the Red Night". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 June 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6015, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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