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The Finger
'He felt a sudden deep pity for the finger joint that lay there on the dresser, a few drops of blood gathering around the white bone.'
A deliberately severed finger, a junky's Christmas miracle and a Tangier con-artist, among others, feature in these hallucinogenic sketches and stories from the infamous Beat legend.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
A deliberately severed finger, a junky's Christmas miracle and a Tangier con-artist, among others, feature in these hallucinogenic sketches and stories from the infamous Beat legend.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
48 pages, Paperback
Published February 22, 2018
26 people are currently reading
898 people want to read
About the author
William S. Burroughs
449 books7,008 followersWilliam Seward Burroughs II, (also known by his pen name William Lee) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer.
A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th century".
His influence is considered to have affected a range of popular culture as well as literature. Burroughs wrote 18 novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays.
Five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians, and made many appearances in films.
He was born to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri, grandson of the inventor and founder of the Burroughs Corporation, William Seward Burroughs I, and nephew of public relations manager Ivy Lee. Burroughs began writing essays and journals in early adolescence. He left home in 1932 to attend Harvard University, studied English, and anthropology as a postgraduate, and later attended medical school in Vienna. After being turned down by the Office of Strategic Services and U.S. Navy in 1942 to serve in World War II, he dropped out and became afflicted with the drug addiction that affected him for the rest of his life, while working a variety of jobs. In 1943 while living in New York City, he befriended Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, the mutually influential foundation of what became the countercultural movement of the Beat Generation.
Much of Burroughs's work is semi-autobiographical, primarily drawn from his experiences as a heroin addict, as he lived throughout Mexico City, London, Paris, Berlin, the South American Amazon and Tangier in Morocco. Finding success with his confessional first novel, Junkie (1953), Burroughs is perhaps best known for his third novel Naked Lunch (1959), a controversy-fraught work that underwent a court case under the U.S. sodomy laws. With Brion Gysin, he also popularized the literary cut-up technique in works such as The Nova Trilogy (1961–64). In 1983, Burroughs was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and in 1984 was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France. Jack Kerouac called Burroughs the "greatest satirical writer since Jonathan Swift", a reputation he owes to his "lifelong subversion" of the moral, political and economic systems of modern American society, articulated in often darkly humorous sardonicism. J. G. Ballard considered Burroughs to be "the most important writer to emerge since the Second World War", while Norman Mailer declared him "the only American writer who may be conceivably possessed by genius".
Burroughs had one child, William Seward Burroughs III (1947-1981), with his second wife Joan Vollmer. Vollmer died in 1951 in Mexico City. Burroughs was convicted of manslaughter in Vollmer's death, an event that deeply permeated all of his writings. Burroughs died at his home in Lawrence, Kansas, after suffering a heart attack in 1997.
A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th century".
His influence is considered to have affected a range of popular culture as well as literature. Burroughs wrote 18 novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays.
Five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians, and made many appearances in films.
He was born to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri, grandson of the inventor and founder of the Burroughs Corporation, William Seward Burroughs I, and nephew of public relations manager Ivy Lee. Burroughs began writing essays and journals in early adolescence. He left home in 1932 to attend Harvard University, studied English, and anthropology as a postgraduate, and later attended medical school in Vienna. After being turned down by the Office of Strategic Services and U.S. Navy in 1942 to serve in World War II, he dropped out and became afflicted with the drug addiction that affected him for the rest of his life, while working a variety of jobs. In 1943 while living in New York City, he befriended Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, the mutually influential foundation of what became the countercultural movement of the Beat Generation.
Much of Burroughs's work is semi-autobiographical, primarily drawn from his experiences as a heroin addict, as he lived throughout Mexico City, London, Paris, Berlin, the South American Amazon and Tangier in Morocco. Finding success with his confessional first novel, Junkie (1953), Burroughs is perhaps best known for his third novel Naked Lunch (1959), a controversy-fraught work that underwent a court case under the U.S. sodomy laws. With Brion Gysin, he also popularized the literary cut-up technique in works such as The Nova Trilogy (1961–64). In 1983, Burroughs was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and in 1984 was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France. Jack Kerouac called Burroughs the "greatest satirical writer since Jonathan Swift", a reputation he owes to his "lifelong subversion" of the moral, political and economic systems of modern American society, articulated in often darkly humorous sardonicism. J. G. Ballard considered Burroughs to be "the most important writer to emerge since the Second World War", while Norman Mailer declared him "the only American writer who may be conceivably possessed by genius".
Burroughs had one child, William Seward Burroughs III (1947-1981), with his second wife Joan Vollmer. Vollmer died in 1951 in Mexico City. Burroughs was convicted of manslaughter in Vollmer's death, an event that deeply permeated all of his writings. Burroughs died at his home in Lawrence, Kansas, after suffering a heart attack in 1997.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
May 5, 2019
A habilidade em utilizar os dedos permitiu ao ser humano desenvolver uma aptidão incrível nos trabalhos manuais. Habilidoso e ardiloso, ele não se contentou com essas modestas tarefas e deslindou outras tantas em que os dedos pudessem ser utilizados - apontar, agarrar, arrancar, chamar alguém ou, até mesmo, esvaziar a dose de droga.
Nesta pequena pérola, de uma colecção que pretendo desvirginar mais e mais, temos contacto com pequenos relatos quotidianos baseados em factos da vida do próprio autor, embrenhado na sua filosofia de beat generation, onde o importante seria aproveitar o prazer da vida, num Carpe Diem constante.
Ainda assim, a linguagem específica e quase transcendente, junto a uma expressão desviante e não requerida, fazem-nos querer conhecer, de longe, esta realidade. Por não ser algo almejado para uma vida plenamente feliz, no final, também nós queremos ser incapazes de agarrar estas histórias em ácidos, impedindo a oponêndia de um poelgar em falta.
Nesta pequena pérola, de uma colecção que pretendo desvirginar mais e mais, temos contacto com pequenos relatos quotidianos baseados em factos da vida do próprio autor, embrenhado na sua filosofia de beat generation, onde o importante seria aproveitar o prazer da vida, num Carpe Diem constante.
Ainda assim, a linguagem específica e quase transcendente, junto a uma expressão desviante e não requerida, fazem-nos querer conhecer, de longe, esta realidade. Por não ser algo almejado para uma vida plenamente feliz, no final, também nós queremos ser incapazes de agarrar estas histórias em ácidos, impedindo a oponêndia de um poelgar em falta.
March 30, 2020
I have never been able to get past the, "" all style no substance " quality of William Burroughs; I find it lackluster.
July 14, 2022
I remember Burroughs from Junky and Naked Lunch which I read decades ago. Both made a powerful impression on me. These stories are simple sketches with desperate characters in a sordid world. The writing is approachable but as stories they are underdeveloped.
May 16, 2020
William Burroughs write about anything other than opiates challenge
March 23, 2023
This is a matter of personal preference, I do not care for what Burroughs wants to communicate.
Burroughs almost only ever writes about the feeling of being addicted to hard drugs (in this case, heroin), and I don't think that is something the world needs to know? If I was a doctor treating opioid addicts I might care about this only from the perspective of trying to help my patients, however, Burroughs casts no opinion or idea in any story and only shows the boring depravity and uselessness of addiction that, to reemphasize, I think is simply something that should not exist.
Were there some personal element to any of this it might be captivating or relatable, but flat characters have nothing to say to me no matter how broken they are.
It's a shame, because from interviews, Burroughs seems like an interesting guy. Maybe he's interesting for the wrong reasons, and better viewed from afar, and so reading his books might just be too close for comfort for me!!
Burroughs almost only ever writes about the feeling of being addicted to hard drugs (in this case, heroin), and I don't think that is something the world needs to know? If I was a doctor treating opioid addicts I might care about this only from the perspective of trying to help my patients, however, Burroughs casts no opinion or idea in any story and only shows the boring depravity and uselessness of addiction that, to reemphasize, I think is simply something that should not exist.
Were there some personal element to any of this it might be captivating or relatable, but flat characters have nothing to say to me no matter how broken they are.
It's a shame, because from interviews, Burroughs seems like an interesting guy. Maybe he's interesting for the wrong reasons, and better viewed from afar, and so reading his books might just be too close for comfort for me!!
June 12, 2018
A short little collection of stories from an author I've always wanted to read. He is a product of the Beat movement and his writing is a reflection of the time - people trying to find their place in the world, indulging in drug use and a wayward attitude towards life. The stories are well written and the writers exercised brevity as he hooks you. There is a certain endearing quality about the writing as it manages to indulge you. Will definitely want to read more of his work.
December 18, 2018
Nummer 25 in Penguins MODERN-reeks: 6 korte verhalen van El Hombre Invisible, waaronder het beruchte titelverhaal over een in een vlaag van junkiewaanzin afgesneden pink.
June 10, 2018
This is Burroughs at his most approachable, which makes it a good introduction to his style. It’s also simultaneously fictional and autobiographical, with the titular story focusing on why Burroughs cut off part of his finger. Worth reading.
April 26, 2020
Actual Rating: 2 and a half stars out of 5 but I am being a bit generous here, as I am with any book that shows even a glimmer of potential.
William S. Burroughs is widely considered as one of the icons of the Beat revolution and with, if his admirers and critics are to be believed, good reason as any. His trademark style of chronicling the lost, desperate lives of souls either drugged and strung out on substance abuse or thrown off the pavement of civility due to their sexual orientation has not only contributed to some of the most perversely compelling literature of the twentieth century but has also influenced many a post-modernist writer that came after Burroughs, from Thomas Pynchon to the comics guru Alan Moore. But, but, if you think that this slim volume, of less than 50 pages, and filled not with compelling narrative pieces but mostly with some rough sketches or bits and pieces of bigger ideas, will be a good place to start with Burroughs, well, my friend, you are mistaken.
It is not as if these sketches and stories are the work of any amateur. Even as they might clearly belong, or that is how I think, to the backlot of Burroughs' main field of work, there is every sign in each of them of a real storyteller and one who knows his oeuvre clearly. But the problem, and I blame Penguin more for this than Mr. Burroughs himself, is that here is a writer whose confounding, at least for the uninitiated, style needs to be savoured in one go rather than in this inadequate, jumbled-up way and these six stories and sketches do not really provide the satisfying after-taste of yearning to discover him more, which is what most successful short stories and pieces end up doing effectively.
There is one genuinely great short story in the middle of this little collection, though. And all I can hint at is it is not the title story - which, while written with a compellingly gritty and laconic style and marked by some vivid, psychedelic imagery, fizzles out with a predictable denouement.
I leave it to the uninitiated to discover that truly great story - a story of actual movement, taut storytelling and a great sense of surreal atmosphere - but if there is one good thing to be gleaned from all these writings, inferior as they might be, ostensibly, in face of what Burroughs has written in his entire lifetime, it is that he was indeed a master in psychedelic imagery and at an unadorned, unvarnished style of characterisation that truly establishes him as a poet of low-life.
For that reason alone, I recommend you to give this a try. That and, of course, that one brilliant short story.
William S. Burroughs is widely considered as one of the icons of the Beat revolution and with, if his admirers and critics are to be believed, good reason as any. His trademark style of chronicling the lost, desperate lives of souls either drugged and strung out on substance abuse or thrown off the pavement of civility due to their sexual orientation has not only contributed to some of the most perversely compelling literature of the twentieth century but has also influenced many a post-modernist writer that came after Burroughs, from Thomas Pynchon to the comics guru Alan Moore. But, but, if you think that this slim volume, of less than 50 pages, and filled not with compelling narrative pieces but mostly with some rough sketches or bits and pieces of bigger ideas, will be a good place to start with Burroughs, well, my friend, you are mistaken.
It is not as if these sketches and stories are the work of any amateur. Even as they might clearly belong, or that is how I think, to the backlot of Burroughs' main field of work, there is every sign in each of them of a real storyteller and one who knows his oeuvre clearly. But the problem, and I blame Penguin more for this than Mr. Burroughs himself, is that here is a writer whose confounding, at least for the uninitiated, style needs to be savoured in one go rather than in this inadequate, jumbled-up way and these six stories and sketches do not really provide the satisfying after-taste of yearning to discover him more, which is what most successful short stories and pieces end up doing effectively.
There is one genuinely great short story in the middle of this little collection, though. And all I can hint at is it is not the title story - which, while written with a compellingly gritty and laconic style and marked by some vivid, psychedelic imagery, fizzles out with a predictable denouement.
I leave it to the uninitiated to discover that truly great story - a story of actual movement, taut storytelling and a great sense of surreal atmosphere - but if there is one good thing to be gleaned from all these writings, inferior as they might be, ostensibly, in face of what Burroughs has written in his entire lifetime, it is that he was indeed a master in psychedelic imagery and at an unadorned, unvarnished style of characterisation that truly establishes him as a poet of low-life.
For that reason alone, I recommend you to give this a try. That and, of course, that one brilliant short story.
April 10, 2018
This is book #25 in Penguin’s “Modern” series. These short books (less than 100 pages) feature short works (poems, short stories, essays, speeches, and even a novella or two) from 20th century luminaries. In this case, the book consists of six short stories by the Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs, who’s most famous for his novel “Naked Lunch” and for his affinity for heroin. I mention the latter not to besmirch Burroughs' character, but because drug use (and the vices that sometimes travel hand-in-hand) is a fixture in Burroughs’ writing, and this collection is no exception.
Many, if not all, of these stories are in the same fictional universe, as suggested by repeated characters and locations -- most notably the junky William Lee of “Naked Lunch” fame. [These stories were previously published in a collection entitled, “Interzone,” and the titular piece had an even earlier first publication in the book, “Early Routines.”] However, the stories are all stand-alone pieces and a couple of them show no evidence of being related. The one’s that do share common features don’t tell an overarching tale.
The six stories are:
1.) “The Finger”: An addict, Lee, cuts off his own finger (just the top joint) and is surprised by the reaction it incurs.
2.) “Driving Lesson”: An individual with no experience driving is asked to take the wheel, and given some bad advice to boot.
3.) “The Junky’s Christmas”: The spirit of Christmas overcomes an addict’s yearnings.
4.) “Lee and the Boys”: Lee and his various [non-sexual] interactions with young male prostitutes.
5.) “In the Café Central”: This isn’t so much a story as sketches of the various meetups simultaneously transpiring at a café. There is a table with: a.) a guide and a tourist, b.) a German expat and the annoying gossip who he uniquely tolerates, c.) a beautiful woman with bad teeth who is a wee bit sensitive about them.
6.) “Dream of the Penal Colony”: This hazy, little story is part a dream of being in a penal colony and part slurry of reality and the hallucinations of drug-addled drifter.
I enjoyed this little collection and would recommend it for someone who wants to sample Burroughs before diving into one of his novels. While the first story may have gotten the title role by virtue of its bizarre subject matter, I’d argue that “The Junky’s Christmas” is narratively the strongest. It’s not too hard to follow these pieces despite the fact that the stories virtually all feature unreliable narration by virtue of being told through the eyes of someone in the grips of substance abuse. Burroughs presents that mix of reality and drug-distorted world-view vividly and intelligibly. That said, if you’re expecting the world through sober eyes, you’re in the wrong place.
Many, if not all, of these stories are in the same fictional universe, as suggested by repeated characters and locations -- most notably the junky William Lee of “Naked Lunch” fame. [These stories were previously published in a collection entitled, “Interzone,” and the titular piece had an even earlier first publication in the book, “Early Routines.”] However, the stories are all stand-alone pieces and a couple of them show no evidence of being related. The one’s that do share common features don’t tell an overarching tale.
The six stories are:
1.) “The Finger”: An addict, Lee, cuts off his own finger (just the top joint) and is surprised by the reaction it incurs.
2.) “Driving Lesson”: An individual with no experience driving is asked to take the wheel, and given some bad advice to boot.
3.) “The Junky’s Christmas”: The spirit of Christmas overcomes an addict’s yearnings.
4.) “Lee and the Boys”: Lee and his various [non-sexual] interactions with young male prostitutes.
5.) “In the Café Central”: This isn’t so much a story as sketches of the various meetups simultaneously transpiring at a café. There is a table with: a.) a guide and a tourist, b.) a German expat and the annoying gossip who he uniquely tolerates, c.) a beautiful woman with bad teeth who is a wee bit sensitive about them.
6.) “Dream of the Penal Colony”: This hazy, little story is part a dream of being in a penal colony and part slurry of reality and the hallucinations of drug-addled drifter.
I enjoyed this little collection and would recommend it for someone who wants to sample Burroughs before diving into one of his novels. While the first story may have gotten the title role by virtue of its bizarre subject matter, I’d argue that “The Junky’s Christmas” is narratively the strongest. It’s not too hard to follow these pieces despite the fact that the stories virtually all feature unreliable narration by virtue of being told through the eyes of someone in the grips of substance abuse. Burroughs presents that mix of reality and drug-distorted world-view vividly and intelligibly. That said, if you’re expecting the world through sober eyes, you’re in the wrong place.
August 23, 2018
These stories - 'The Finger', 'Driving Lesson', 'The Junky's Christmas', 'Lee and the Boys', 'In the Cafe Central', and 'Dream of the Penal Colony' - have all been taken from William S. Burroughs' Interzones (1989). Of his work to date, I have read only Naked Lunch, which I found quite odd. These stories, however, were far stranger. As a collection, I did not feel as though there was a great deal of coherence between them, despite an overlap of characters. Some of them also felt rather brief and unfinished. I do enjoy Beat writers on the whole, particularly Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, but I find Burroughs' work far more difficult to get into. Whilst the tales here were readable enough, I found that some of the descriptions made me feel rather sick, and I did not enjoy a single one of them. On the whole, there did not seem to be a great deal of point to any of these stories. Not for me.
June 12, 2019
Maybe I just picked the wrong day to read this collection or the stories weren't right for me, but I wasn't a fan. I probably shouldn't badmouth Burroughs because he seems pretty well-respected by a lot of people, so perhaps I'm missing something. But since his writing has a hard semiautobiographical edge I have to say there was plenty in his biography that didn't exactly attract me to him, and as for the writing itself, there were a couple passages I liked and the characters were drawn just fine -- at a couple days' distance I can say that elements of the stories have stuck with me more than I'd expected them to, but few of them really tied themselves up satisfactorily.
I've been reading others' positive appraisals of Burroughs and am taking some time to think about what my response to this first exposure to his life and work says about me and what I see in myself, but in the meantime I don't feel obliged to say I really liked him.
I've been reading others' positive appraisals of Burroughs and am taking some time to think about what my response to this first exposure to his life and work says about me and what I see in myself, but in the meantime I don't feel obliged to say I really liked him.
April 19, 2019
Loving this Penguin Modern series. This one has a few shorter pieces from Burroughs. Especially nice to read "The Junky's Christmas" which I only knew as a spoken word animated video before.
July 1, 2023
Niektóre historie zapadają w pamięć, ale większość (wszystkie) nie miała dla mnie sensu
May 24, 2019
A pretty good introduction to the work of Burroughs. I believe the short stories in this collection are based more on fact than fiction. Which, for me, ultimately makes most of them... Disturbing.
My complete review is at:
https://youtu.be/QPeEKXPhoo4
My complete review is at:
https://youtu.be/QPeEKXPhoo4
Read
October 7, 2024pan narkoman w formie widzę
July 15, 2022
This little penguin book of short stories showcases Burroughs' writing in what are essentially a collection of short, creative, abstract essays, linked by theme rather than storyline, and leaving the reader with something to think about. My enjoyment for each story individually differed but each had its own strong message, leaving each its own powerful impression from shock to pensive to discomfort, which is arguably more difficult to achieve than a calm, satisfactory feeling from a neat, grand conclusion. 'The Finger', the first short story, was my favourite as I felt it has the strongest storyline and left an impression on me for a long time after finishing the book, however I also enjoyed the shock factor of 'The Junky' Christmas' which became a close second. Overall, I didn't feel like I enjoyed this book very much, but the impressions it left on me made me feel that a book being good may mean more than it being easy to enjoy, so that makes me intrigued to read more work like this.
May 27, 2022
1.5/10 estrelas
Apparently, this is the same author from Naked Lunch which is a book I really liked to read since I heard so much about it. I'm happy I got a taste of William S. Burroughs writing before digging into s more extensive read. This was probably the shortest little book ever, It literally took me less than an hour to finish it. It is a collection of 6 short stories and I was very much surprised. Only I still haven't figured out if I was surprised on a positive or negative level. I really liked his writing that's for sure. The way the characters act, move, talk, and how the plot evolves is really easy to comprehend and very amusing and gripping. Nevertheless, I barely understood each story by itself. Plus there were characters that showed up in multiple stories and that only made me more confused. I truly would like that some texts could have been longer and we could get a more general view of what was that we were getting into.
Apparently, this is the same author from Naked Lunch which is a book I really liked to read since I heard so much about it. I'm happy I got a taste of William S. Burroughs writing before digging into s more extensive read. This was probably the shortest little book ever, It literally took me less than an hour to finish it. It is a collection of 6 short stories and I was very much surprised. Only I still haven't figured out if I was surprised on a positive or negative level. I really liked his writing that's for sure. The way the characters act, move, talk, and how the plot evolves is really easy to comprehend and very amusing and gripping. Nevertheless, I barely understood each story by itself. Plus there were characters that showed up in multiple stories and that only made me more confused. I truly would like that some texts could have been longer and we could get a more general view of what was that we were getting into.
March 6, 2018
Burroughs, you mad genius
January 16, 2019
Geggjuð
May 16, 2020
Do you think he likes heroine?
March 20, 2021
adorable little short stories but damn does burroughs like heroin jeebus
April 27, 2019
All of this book’s stories were collected in a previously published book, Interzone, which was mostly made up of rejected vignettes from Naked Lunch. Had I been aware of this at the time, I wouldn’t have purchased the book as I already own Interzone. Granted it has been a decade and a half since I read the book, so it was nice to get a refresher and I might reread the original, but reproducing this with a different name, even at a relatively low cost, is still deceptive.
These are a collection of six of Burrough’s more coherent short stories, written well before he developed his cut-up technique. They are to-the-point without much narrative or action, many of them, such as the excerpt above from “In the Cafe Central”, are simply biting character assassination of presumably people that Burroughs knew or observed.
These are a collection of six of Burrough’s more coherent short stories, written well before he developed his cut-up technique. They are to-the-point without much narrative or action, many of them, such as the excerpt above from “In the Cafe Central”, are simply biting character assassination of presumably people that Burroughs knew or observed.
November 23, 2021
My issue with 'Junky' was that it seemed as though there was nothing to William S. Burroughs other than his drug addiction. I wondered if he had any personality at all underneath it. The short stories in 'The Finger' prove that he does, but also not by much.
I did enjoy all of the stories in this collection and not knowing what is autiobiographical and what is fictional adds a real element of interest to them. One story repeats part of 'Junky' which gave me a nostalgic feeling all the way back to one month ago when I read that book. The others discuss crime, sex and yes, heroin, in a fun and snappy way. All of them were engaging which is more than I can say for some other collections.
I did enjoy all of the stories in this collection and not knowing what is autiobiographical and what is fictional adds a real element of interest to them. One story repeats part of 'Junky' which gave me a nostalgic feeling all the way back to one month ago when I read that book. The others discuss crime, sex and yes, heroin, in a fun and snappy way. All of them were engaging which is more than I can say for some other collections.
June 10, 2025
I’ll be so fr, my review is defo biased bc I read this whilst waiting over 1.5 hours for my train that should’ve taken 15 mins door to door😔 there’s also a kid named finger joke I could make but I’m too babygirl to go into the effort of doing that
September 5, 2021
a captivating, grimy series of vignettes. really enjoyed
June 30, 2022
not bad at all, just not as substantial as i would’ve hoped. felt a bit lacklustre.
August 21, 2022
The Finger was by far my favourite short story out of this collection!
September 23, 2023
Dark and in some parts incredulous and surreal urban stories exploring madness, illness and vice. In some parts less interpretable and hence less enjoyable but overall a satisfying theme throughout.
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December 20, 2025Well, it held my attention, which is more than a lot of the books in the Penguin Mini Modern collection have done.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews