Cities of the Red Night Audiobook By William S. Burroughs cover art

Cities of the Red Night

The Red Night Trilogy, Book 1

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Cities of the Red Night

By: William S. Burroughs
Narrated by: Ray Porter
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From one of the founders of the beat generation and the 1960s counterculture comes this opening novel of a series available now in audio for the first time. An opium addict is lost in the jungle; young men wage war against an empire of mutants; a handsome young pirate faces his execution; and the world's population is infected with a radioactive epidemic. These stories are woven together in a single tale of mayhem and chaos. In the first novel of the trilogy continued in The Place of Dead Roads and The Western Lands, William Burroughs sharply satirizes modern society in a poetic and shocking story of sex, drugs, disease, and adventure.

©2013 William S. Burroughs (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Scary War
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This first volume of the final #Burroughs trilogy, "Red Night" has captured me firmly in its grasp. The weaving of several simultaneous threads which the reader must unravel in "Cities of the Red Night," illustrates and embodies the instructions given by the author on constructing a virus in "Electronic Revolution." I am infected and will complete the cycle through "The Place of Dead Roads" and ending with "The Western Lands." This first volume is full of hallucinatory depictions that snake from the pages as words burn like flames. I have come to value this work as an entertainment in #storytelling and as an #inspiration in my own efforts as a writer. I am pleased to have gotten a signed copy of the third and final book from the author himself upon its release in 1987. That volume is not yet available as an #Audiobook so I will read it on paper after I complete listening to this and the second volume available here.

The narrator, Ray Porter is excellent and has a very convincing manner of shifting voice to embody a variety of characters. He truly comprehends the work and brings the story to life. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes.

Book 1 As told by the Master

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I like the works of Burroughs. I read Naked Lunch in high school and really enjoyed it so I wanted to get into some of his other works. Cities of the Red Night was one of the first ones I found that had an interesting sounding plot and no major hype surrounding it. I can kinda see why it doesn't. The story is great overall and pretty easy to follow for the first 2/3rds of the novel. Then towards the last third it falls apart and becomes a disjointed mess that, while impossible to follow, still provides some entertainment. I would totally recommend this to fans of Burroughs but know that it does fall apart which lead me to not being as into it as I was. Also the performance definitely enhances the experience and makes the novel all the more engaging.

Burroughs is weird, but I'm sure you knew that

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Tour de force of one fantastic tableau after another some of the more interesting modes ranging from detective or to underground adventure epics à la Richard Corben. (Would have liked the cutting through jungle section, so we’ll set up to have continued to escalates in this vein but alas not that kind of book or author.)

For readers skewing to the furthest end of the experimental adventurous end of the spectrum. Or others wanting to have minds blown.

FOR A (SELF-) SELECT(ED) AUDIENCE

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W.S.B. at his peak holy shit. just sit with the story. it'll all make sense in the end.

INCREDIBLE

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Burroughs’s art that may find a larger audience than Naked Lunch or the cut-up trilogy.

Exceptionnel performance.

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Melange of noir detective drama, pirates, aliens, magic, ejaculation, death, drugs, male on male anal!

This book has it all.

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Excellent performance! The story had me fascinated. It was graphic and hard to listen to at times but also impossible to pause!

Intrigue payed off ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Ray Porter provides an excellent reading of this Burroughs novel. The book can be wonderful in some places and then not seem to make sense in other places.

I have enjoyed this program

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Anarchist gay pirates, time and space travel, reincarnation through various methods, a detective story, a deadly pandemic, custom weaponry, occultism, and more....Cities of the Red Night is my favorite Burroughs book, I think the narrator does an absolutely fantastic job navigating the reader(listener?) through the absolute chaos, doing different accents and voices for the myriad of diverse characters, and setting the tone for each vignette as they are numerous, cutup, and vivid as any Burroughs work.

absolutely timeless. thank you Ray Porter!

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but that's not saying a ton... dude is one of the flat out funnies effers to ever turn a phrase... but Jesus I do get sick of silver spots behind the eyes and young boys (turned eighteen about six seconds ago... [huge eye roll] or hey in Germany the age of conscent if still fourteen right?...) pitching tents no? I wish... ahh... nevermind ya either love the creepy old pederast or you don't...

probably Burroughs late period masterpiece

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