In 1962, William Burroughs, a member of the Young American Disaffiliates (YADS), more commonly referred to as the Beat Generation, was brought to trial for accusations of obscenity regarding his published book, Naked Lunch. The Beats, as a counter-culture and anti-establishment group, not only experimented with innovative writing styles, but most pertinently with sensitive content that promoted a culture of nonconformity and social upheaval, and as a result struggled tremendously in relation to obscenity laws.
This Time Magazine review of Naked Lunch exemplifies the representations of the Beat literary movement to the “square” population, and aims to discredit the literary value of the novel and the Beat movement as a whole. The review agrees with the then standing charges that state the novel is obscene, of poor literary quality, and of little to no redeeming social importance. The review is indicative of the contemporary mainstream perspective of the Beats, but also of how the media and government, who aimed to prosecute and dismantle the literary movement, simultaneously promoted public attention and distribution.
