Highlights from last week's posts (on Burroughs)

Burroughs has had an enormous influence on rock - Aaron talks about Cobain/Burroughs and embeds a video. In a funny way, Burroughs and Bukowski are opposites. For one thing, Bukowski doesn't ostracize the reader quite the way W.S.B. does. James talks about the relationship. Kevin's post on the effect of the cut-up on the idea of authorship as well as the experience of reading can be a resource for all of us. Tyler's comments on the picaresque and transgressive are interesting; of course, the picaresque is a defiance of the "nineteenth-century" novel - and has a very different structure. Tyler also includes a cut-up from the syllabus. Zeba noticed Burroughs' rejection of feminist assumptions and said she thought transgressive authors would go against conservative assumptions. But they don't seem to accept either conservative or progressive ideas; I think they're looking for a p.o.v. completely outside the conservative/liberal thing.