THE SOFT MACHINE
Other Works by William S. Burroughs Published by Grove Press
Junky: The Definitive Text of “Junk”
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
The Ticket That Exploded: The Restored Text
Nova Express: The Restored Text
The Adding Machine: Selected Essays
The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead
Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader
Last Words: The Final Journals of William Burroughs
THE SOFT
MACHINE
The Restored Text
William S. Burroughs
Edited and with an Introduction by
Oliver Harris
Grove Press
New York
Copyright © 1961, 1966 by William S. Burroughs
Copyright © 2014 by the Estate of William S. Burroughs
Introduction copyright © 2014 Oliver Harris
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Third revised edition published by Grove Press in 2014.
Published simultaneously in Canada
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-0-8021-2211-7
eISBN: 978-0-8021-9721-4
Grove Press
an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
154 West 14th Street
New York, NY 10011
Distributed by Publishers Group West
Contents
Appendices
1 From The Soft Machine (1961)
2 “Operation Soft Machine/Cut” (1961)
3 From The Soft Machine (1968)
4 Appendix to The Soft Machine (1968)
Acknowledgments
It is a privilege to edit works by William Burroughs, and a pleasure to thank James Grauerholz for making it possible and for all the support he has given. It is also a pleasure to thank the following for their expert help: Jed Birmingham for assistance with little magazines; Nicole Dittrich at Syracuse University; Ella Harris for typing out the 1961 edition; Bill McArthur, Stewart Smith, and Brian Schottlander; and above all, Véronique Lane, for working with me from start to finish, being by my side in the archival vaults, sharing ideas, reading every word I wrote, and for living with the Centipede People and the Crab Boys for the last two years.
For the great archival assistance they have provided, I also want to thank John Bennett of the Rare Books and Manuscript Library at Ohio State University, Columbus; Rob Spindler of the Archives and Special Collections at Arizona State University, Tempe; Isaac Gewirtz, Curator of the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library, and his staff; the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries; Cath Tierney of Green Library, Stanford University; Elspeth Healey, Special Collections Librarian at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, Universtiy of Kansas, Lawrence; and Michael Ryan and all his staff at the Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Columbia University. I would also like to acknowledge the support of the Research Institute for the Humanities at Keele University. Thanks finally to Jeff Posternak of the Wylie Agency, a great guy to have on your side, and to Peter Blackstock at Grove Press.
Introduction
SOLA