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Turing & Burroughs
Turing & Burroughs is an SF novel set in style of a 1950s-movie “alien invasion” story. Computer pioneer Alan Turing and the Beat author William Burroughs connect in Tangier and begin a love affair. The novel fuses SF themes with beatnik styles and attitudes, switching between Turing's and Burroughs's points of view.
Turing and Burroughs find a way to shapeshift into telepathic slugs, and society's reaction serves as a symbol of the 1950s horror of gays, artists, intellectuals and political outsiders.
As our heroes flee the feds, the story becomes a road novel. In traditional 1950s SF style, they head for a nuclear test site in Los Alamos, New Mexico. En route, Turing and Burroughs visit Mexico City and have a heavy encounter with Burroughs's murdered wife.
The story comes to a head with a thermonuclear blast and a final transcendence.
Turing and Burroughs find a way to shapeshift into telepathic slugs, and society's reaction serves as a symbol of the 1950s horror of gays, artists, intellectuals and political outsiders.
As our heroes flee the feds, the story becomes a road novel. In traditional 1950s SF style, they head for a nuclear test site in Los Alamos, New Mexico. En route, Turing and Burroughs visit Mexico City and have a heavy encounter with Burroughs's murdered wife.
The story comes to a head with a thermonuclear blast and a final transcendence.
248 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2012
10 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Rudy Rucker
196 books590 followersRudolf von Bitter Rucker is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk genre. He is best known for his Ware Tetralogy, the first two of which won Philip K. Dick awards. Presently, Rudy Rucker edits the science fiction webzine Flurb.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 21, 2019
The best description I can come up with for ‘Turing & Burroughs’ is a combination of Jeff Noon, Poppy Z. Brite, and Thomas Pynchon. The premise is that Alan Turing faked his death, grew himself a new face using biological computing, unleashed an army of symbiotic shape-shifting slugs, and went on a roadtrip with William Burroughs and assorted fellow bohemians. From the two preceding sentences, you can probably tell whether you’d enjoy this novel or not. I love this kind of picaresque psychedelic weirdness, so had a great time. Rucker commits fully to the bizarre ideas and situations that crop up throughout. I particularly enjoyed the epistolary chapters, as Burroughs’ voice was evoked so well. The shape-shifting slug (‘skug’) stuff verges upon body horror on occasion, but made a neat drug metaphor. Although the narrative largely centres on queer men, the female characters are also really great. Death, love, and armageddon are all addressed in rather offhand style, yet little moments in the narrative are emotionally powerful. The dialogue is great too. I suspended my disbelief and just enjoyed being along for the weird ride.
October 25, 2012
As one who loved Naked Lunch and adores Rudy Rucker's strange imagination, and as one who digs Alan Turing's legacy and William Burroughs' indelible stamp on American writing, how could there have been a better book? No spoilers, but the premise: In this alternative vision, Alan Turing does not commit suicide after his conviction for homosexuality. Instead, his government tries to off him, but accidentally kills his pretty young current squeeze. Turing's biocomputational studies have led him to a point where he can clone the boy's face in a petri dish, and then mount it over his own, escaping MI5 to Tangiers, where he pals up and beds down with, you guessed it, the ginchy giant centipede himself, Bill Burroughs. A slickly Ruckeresque save-the-world romp ensues, as Turing's petri dish creations begin taking over. There should probably have been an Adult Reading rating on this one; tantalizing sexuality runs through these pages like skuglish mycelium.
March 9, 2015
I was not a fan of this one. It's an interesting experiment, sure, but it didn't add up to a whole hell of a lot. (On the other hand, I've never read any Burroughs, so I don't know how well the sections that were supposed to be written by him stacked up to what he actually wrote, but they felt strained, like someone trying too hard to be hip.)
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
March 1, 2019
A pleasant surprise. I’ve had no previous exposure to this author, simply found the book on the shelf at the local bookshop. It sounded strange in the extreme and I honestly thought I might end up not finishing it before I even started. The first 100 pages were absolutely brilliant. It did bog down later on, and therefore didn’t earn that final elusive fifth star, but I really enjoyed this read, and will certainly be diving into more of his work in the future.
February 22, 2020
Have you ever witnessed a love so pure, it made you wonder if you had ever really loved at all?
April 26, 2018
This one has really stuck with me days later. I was delighted by the premise: Alan Turing escapes an assassination attempt and uses his weird bioengineering experiments to copy his dead lover's face and flee to Tangier, where he meets William S Burroughs and develops a prickly romance with him and with a cast of bohemian side characters. Turing's mad science has led to the development of parasitic/symbiotic sluglike characters called "skugs" that fuse to their hosts and grant a range of weird powers, including telepathy, self-healing, and shapeshifting. This has both pros and cons (Skug sex sounds amazing though)! Rucker has a flexible, adaptable writing style and he's even good with women characters (more than the actual Beats). The ghost of Joan Burroughs has a strong personality, and I fell a little bit in love with Susan, the avant-garde composer who has a sort of physics-magick of her own based on sound (and who is an adventurous soul who takes Turing's seduction of her husband more or less in stride as long as there's also something in it for her).
There's a LOT of scientific material in here, thoroughly integrated in narration and dialogue - both realistic and not, and a cameo by the nuclear physicist Stanislaw Ulam - and I'll be frank, most of it goes right over my head. But Rucker and his characters describe it with such ecstatic glee that it becomes bop prosody in its own right: like the best Beat writing, it works as music as much as prose. And his style really sings in the sections of the book that are in the form of letters from Burroughs to Kerouac and Ginsberg - he really nails WSB's bone-dry wit and morbid frankness and inimitable gift for unconventional syntax. The love story (well really there are several) is both sweet and prickly, and doesn't skimp on the bitterness caused by being dangerously queer and smart in the repressive 50s.
There's a LOT of scientific material in here, thoroughly integrated in narration and dialogue - both realistic and not, and a cameo by the nuclear physicist Stanislaw Ulam - and I'll be frank, most of it goes right over my head. But Rucker and his characters describe it with such ecstatic glee that it becomes bop prosody in its own right: like the best Beat writing, it works as music as much as prose. And his style really sings in the sections of the book that are in the form of letters from Burroughs to Kerouac and Ginsberg - he really nails WSB's bone-dry wit and morbid frankness and inimitable gift for unconventional syntax. The love story (well really there are several) is both sweet and prickly, and doesn't skimp on the bitterness caused by being dangerously queer and smart in the repressive 50s.
June 16, 2013
Don’t worry, this book isn't about what the author imagined a true-to-life meeting of Alan Turing and William S. Burroughs might have actually have been like (although that could have been interesting, I suppose). Instead, it’s pure craziness. It’s not to say that the author didn't do his homework and research the two main subjects of this novel. He did. And he does a good job imitating the style and spirit of Burroughs in letters to Ginsberg and Kerouac that comprise a number of chapters in the book. He also did a great job of creating a world much like the worlds Burroughs built inside his head using Alan Turing’s mad science as the ‘magic’ that makes it all possible. No, this isn't about Turing & Burroughs teaming up to solve a cozy mystery in Tangiers. It’s all about the misadventures of a band of drug addled, sexually deviant, telepathic, shape-shifting slugs.
December 29, 2023
I used to love Rudy Rucker, but have not kept up with his more recent books, as they all seemed too alike. Some kind of alien technology gets loose and it's absurd and it changes everything, with hapless protagonists, usually Silicon Valley or other nerds and their girlfriends or wives. This one is similar, but Alan Turing, who is not hapless, invents the technology (which turns into more-or-less an alien life form) and William Burroughs is his main love interest. With Rucker writing, how could this go wrong?
In the book, Turing's suicide was actually a failed murder attempt on him, and he put his face on the unfortunate actual victim. How? By developing a microorganism that can merge with human flesh and take characteristics programmed into it. Turing flees to Tangier, where he meets Burroughs. His own new fake face is starting to rot, so he works hard on making the organism more versatile and programmable. With the organism, called a skug, Turing and the others he passes it on to are able to change into any shape and are telepathic with other skuggers. It absorbs knowledge as it merges with people, and becomes a symbiont or parasite, depending on one's viewpoint. It also develops its own agenda. The action moves from Tangiers to the USA, with anti-skug federal agents in hot pursuit. Oh, and lots of gay and/or skuggy sex.
I've read a lot about Alan Turing. He was brilliant, and his death due to homophobia was tragic. I also read and loved Burroughs's books way back when. As far as I can tell, Rucker gets Turing's and Burroughs's personalities, and Burroughs's writing style, right (which is....weird). Turing is mostly the main character, written in third person. There are also a number of letters that Burroughs writes (in first person) mostly to Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. It's so funny to read letters from Burroughs about skug stuff that is as weird as what he wrote about in real life but, in the book, real. Ginsberg and Neal Cassady come into the story later. Also a real Los Alamos physicist, Stan Ulam, whom I'd never heard of but who was a very interesting person.
This book is probably not for everyone; I think mostly for Rucker fans (or potential ones) who also are interested in Turing and/or Burroughs. I absolutely loved it.
In the book, Turing's suicide was actually a failed murder attempt on him, and he put his face on the unfortunate actual victim. How? By developing a microorganism that can merge with human flesh and take characteristics programmed into it. Turing flees to Tangier, where he meets Burroughs. His own new fake face is starting to rot, so he works hard on making the organism more versatile and programmable. With the organism, called a skug, Turing and the others he passes it on to are able to change into any shape and are telepathic with other skuggers. It absorbs knowledge as it merges with people, and becomes a symbiont or parasite, depending on one's viewpoint. It also develops its own agenda. The action moves from Tangiers to the USA, with anti-skug federal agents in hot pursuit. Oh, and lots of gay and/or skuggy sex.
I've read a lot about Alan Turing. He was brilliant, and his death due to homophobia was tragic. I also read and loved Burroughs's books way back when. As far as I can tell, Rucker gets Turing's and Burroughs's personalities, and Burroughs's writing style, right (which is....weird). Turing is mostly the main character, written in third person. There are also a number of letters that Burroughs writes (in first person) mostly to Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. It's so funny to read letters from Burroughs about skug stuff that is as weird as what he wrote about in real life but, in the book, real. Ginsberg and Neal Cassady come into the story later. Also a real Los Alamos physicist, Stan Ulam, whom I'd never heard of but who was a very interesting person.
This book is probably not for everyone; I think mostly for Rucker fans (or potential ones) who also are interested in Turing and/or Burroughs. I absolutely loved it.
May 27, 2019
This book was so much fun! I loved the Beat adventures, the wild homebrew science by which Turing creates his skugs, and the interactions between the motley cast. I only wish I could have given it to my teenage self in their most Burroughs-obsessed phase.
One CN: at one point a character uses a transphobic slur (having previously hinted something similar) and that’s never addressed, I guess because Rucker didn’t see it as something harmful. *Otherwise*, I enjoyed the book hugely.
One CN: at one point a character uses a transphobic slur (having previously hinted something similar) and that’s never addressed, I guess because Rucker didn’t see it as something harmful. *Otherwise*, I enjoyed the book hugely.
May 14, 2019
Very intriguing idea. Channels Burroughs nicely in places. But in the end, a bit too offbeat just for the sake of being offbeat and a somewhat disappointing resolution. An enjoyable read, nonetheless.
January 3, 2020
What a weird, bizarre story. I loved it, because it felt like an mix of a 60s pulp sci fi novel mixed with absurdist beatnik style ala William Burroughs. Highly recommend if you want something strange and fun.
August 2, 2023
Well written, but I prefer plausible science fiction. This felt more like fantasy.
December 7, 2012
I suppose you could call this an inverse alien invasion novel, where the aliens do not come from outer space, but are the result of a scientific experiment by computer genius Alan Turing, who is on the run from the FBI, and invents a kind of symbiotic parasite he puts on his face, and which assumes the facial features of his murdered lover. Except the parasite, called a skug, actually merges with Turing's flesh and changes him.
I remember reading an anthology called 'Alien Sex', in which one story by Harlan Ellison, if I recall correctly, was about slug-like aliens that invaded earth and turned the planet into a mass orgy. 'Turing & Burroughs' kind of reminded me of that, for the Burroughs part of the title comes into play when Turing realises his new capabilities, both sexual and mental, allow him to finally act on his unrequited love for the Beat author -- with some very surprising results.
The chapters written in Burroughs-speak are inspired and funny, but there is not enough plot to make this novel work. Also, the characters are pretty unsympathetic, and there is not nearly enough humour to make the general weirdness a bit more palatable. Still, an interesting read, and certainly one of the more outre, bizarre novels I have read in a long time.
I remember reading an anthology called 'Alien Sex', in which one story by Harlan Ellison, if I recall correctly, was about slug-like aliens that invaded earth and turned the planet into a mass orgy. 'Turing & Burroughs' kind of reminded me of that, for the Burroughs part of the title comes into play when Turing realises his new capabilities, both sexual and mental, allow him to finally act on his unrequited love for the Beat author -- with some very surprising results.
The chapters written in Burroughs-speak are inspired and funny, but there is not enough plot to make this novel work. Also, the characters are pretty unsympathetic, and there is not nearly enough humour to make the general weirdness a bit more palatable. Still, an interesting read, and certainly one of the more outre, bizarre novels I have read in a long time.
November 7, 2013
This is not a book for everyone. It's a curious mix of fantasy and science, liberally sprinkled with real people and places. The novel starts with the botched assassination attempt on the life of Alan Turing. Alan, who had finished serving a sentence on a morals charge, fakes his death and escapes to Tangiers, where he runs into William Burroughs and begins an affair.
Alan has also invented a symbiotic life form, called a "skug." Skugs allow their humans to shape-shift and give them limited telepathic ability. Alan infects William, as well as nearly everyone else he meets.
Alan's skug wants him to travel to Los Alamos and most of the book is about that trip. There are sections where Bill Burroughs shares his impressions with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. The book definitely has a Beat vibe, as well as a lot of not-graphic sex, both homo- & heterosexual.
The premise is interesting, the writing is just different enough to give it the Beat feel without being incomprehensible, and the fictionalized characters stay fairly true to their historic selves, with some literary license.
Alan has also invented a symbiotic life form, called a "skug." Skugs allow their humans to shape-shift and give them limited telepathic ability. Alan infects William, as well as nearly everyone else he meets.
Alan's skug wants him to travel to Los Alamos and most of the book is about that trip. There are sections where Bill Burroughs shares his impressions with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. The book definitely has a Beat vibe, as well as a lot of not-graphic sex, both homo- & heterosexual.
The premise is interesting, the writing is just different enough to give it the Beat feel without being incomprehensible, and the fictionalized characters stay fairly true to their historic selves, with some literary license.
July 10, 2013
A quick read that's pretty enjoyable. The story is surprisingly straight-forward given the oddities within: cryptology/electronics genius Alan Turing escapes his government's attempt to assassinate him, in the process creating a sort of symbiotic lifeform that ends up wanting to take over the world. The main side effect of infection is the ability to control one's flesh, with the result that Turing, William S. Burroughs, and a number of other weird characters flee from Tangier to Los Alamos, NM while taking on myriad shapes and identities, and indulging in wild sexual, and other, escapades. Rucker got a good hold on the stylistic quirks of Burroughs' writing, and makes good use of them here. While the story only occasionally scales the heights of strangeness that it could have reached, it certainly has its moments of wonderful imagination. The book lags somewhat in the second half, but wraps up well. As an alternate history, alternate biography, fantastical homage, whatever it may be, this is a fun summer read if any of the foregoing catches your interest.
October 18, 2012
This book is a wild ride, maybe a little too wild for some. I felt it was a lot like a 50s monster / horror movie, but seen from the monsters or aliens point of view, and about their horror. However, to get to the meat of the story one must accept a lot of odd situations due to the sexual preferences of the main characters. Actually, and I live in San Francisco and am pretty much used to people doing just whatever they want to, the percentage of gay people, in the mix of people they come across, throughout the story is a bit too high. It seems that every other person they meet is also gay, and not only gay bit a bit too free with their affections. It is a fun story though, and had me laughing, excited, worried about characters which is always a good sign.
Definitely worth getting if your a Rudy Rucker fan, but be cautious if you have strong feelings about sexual preference and all that goes with that.
Definitely worth getting if your a Rudy Rucker fan, but be cautious if you have strong feelings about sexual preference and all that goes with that.
November 5, 2012
Rudy Rucker, you two bit hack. Reading this book was painful and a general waste of time and I want to genetically manipulate my genitals so if I were to hit you across the face with them the significance of the act would be indicative at the frustration I felt at trying to endure it to the ending. I found the writing to be a chore to read. I didn't care for the characters or the plot. I should have abandoned it but I'm trying very hard not to abandon books.
February 15, 2015
Touring the burrows of a wonderfully twistable mind
There are those with vibrant imagination and those who go past that to discover whole new spectrums. Meet Rudy Rucker. I feel like I sneaked onto a rollercoaster that I wasn't really tall enough for. Drained and dazed and can't wait to sneak back in line. Alan Turing and William Burroughs hold the fate of the world in their hands like a blob of silly putty. What could go wrong? And speaking of blobs............
There are those with vibrant imagination and those who go past that to discover whole new spectrums. Meet Rudy Rucker. I feel like I sneaked onto a rollercoaster that I wasn't really tall enough for. Drained and dazed and can't wait to sneak back in line. Alan Turing and William Burroughs hold the fate of the world in their hands like a blob of silly putty. What could go wrong? And speaking of blobs............
February 2, 2013
A fun book. Great cast of 1950s characters! Turing, Burroughs, Ginsberg, Ulam, Cassady. Even Bebe Barron puts in an appearance. Kinda. And the invented characters fit right in. Not the best of Rucker's but a worth while read.
August 22, 2015
I love silly alternate history books like this--straight up out there wild plots, odd illuminate over tones, and wild beatnik prose--a very fun summer read. I am not sure why Rucker is not a bigger author--I love everything I have read by him!
August 23, 2013
Rudy Rucker novels make me so happy. I loved this one. It was trippy and brilliant and bizarre and awesome. Perfect.
January 4, 2014
What a weird book, so right up my alley. Interesting Burroughs lite version of Bill, an Alan Turing of all peope. If Burroughs wrote for sctv, this would be a sketch.
August 27, 2013
I love Rudy, and I'll read anything of his, but this feels indulgent.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews