Dead Fingers Talk

1963 British hardcover edition.

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 Olympia Press.

The book combines sections from Burroughs' earlier novels, Naked Lunch, The Soft Machine and The Ticket That Exploded, along with new material, in an attempt to create a new narrative. Its plot cannot be easily described.

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.

The band Dead Fingers Talks takes its name from this book.

External link

• http://www.fb10.uni-bremen.de/anglistik/kerkhoff/beatgeneration/BurroughsArchives.htm Website] discussing Burroughs work and the reaction to Dead Fingers Talk.