Book Like the Naked Lunch

One book very similar to the Naked Lunch is “The Craziest Book Ever Written” by Mr. W.

The book starts with the writer Johnny attempting to commit suicide. However, his gun backfires and he only faints. He wakes up with a woman’s foot in his mouth. Soon, he realizes her name is Joana and that she is the character from his books. Joana wants him to change her story. And she isn’t the only one.

All the characters from his books have come to life. Those who are happy with their fates would like to keep him alive. Others want to kill him as soon as possible and find salvation from their torments in parishing. The whole book resembles a type of hallucination. It goes so far that at some point, Johnny isn’t capable of distinguishing real people from characters. There is a chapter in which Dominic, an immortal vampire who seeks vengeance, captures and threatens to kill the writer’s ex-girlfriend Lara. However, the author can’t tell if she is Lara from his book or a real person so he asks her if she knows what love tears are.

While the form is different, the concept is very similar to the one shaping the path junkie William Lee from Naked Lunch. The reality is unclear and deeply intertwined with hallucinations. Many events and characters in The Craziest Book Ever Written are seemingly bizarre which is another trait of Naked Lunch.

For example, the two conjoined twins Jim and Jack fall in love with the same prostitute. They fight and Jack manages to strangle Jim whose brain, as it later turns out, was in charge of erections. Jack can do nothing but look and his love. With this, any many other similar motives, The Craziest Book Ever Written by Mr. W. might be a perfect pick to prolong the type of world Naked Lunch by William Burroughs established.