Today, the Beats hold a noteworthy place in the American literary tradition, but there was a time when their work was met with resistance. A piece published by The New Yorker focuses on the life and work of one of the Beats in particular: William S. Burroughs.
Burroughs “brought to social notice themes of drug use, homosexuality, hyperbolic violence, and anti-authoritarian paranoia” with his novel Naked Lunch, but is this the reason we still read him today? Schjeldahl argues that we continue to read Burroughs for his literary voice.
![National Poetry Month: “WHEN PRAYER DIDN’T AWAY THE GAY, MY DAD TAUGHT ME HOW TO PLAY DOOM ON THE FAMILY COMPUTER [Golden Shovel]”](https://therumpus.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/pic-Ty-Raso.jpeg)