Abstract

William Burroughs is commonly known for his anti-government ramblings in Naked Lunch and Junkie. The superficial view is that these novels describe rampant drug use and homosexual promiscuity. It is hardly surprising that his work shocked (and still shocks) America. When we look a little deeper, though, we can find evidence of profound political strains threading throughout his work. Was Burroughs an anarchist? A libertarian? A true American? Burroughs' oeuvre is now complete, and it is appropriate to reflect on the sum of his work. I will attempt to demonstrate a codified political ideology in The Place of Dead Roads within a theoretical model that includes elements of classical Marxism, anarchy, and Jeffersonian agrarianism. Can parallels between the politics of seemingly antipatriotic Burroughs and the original patriot Jefferson be found? What might such a revelation tell us about the work of Kerouac and Ginsberg? I will suggest that American agronomy is a useful concept to examine American letters.