120,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Come visit us this weekend! Auckland Bookstore open 8:30am-5:00pm Sat & Sun 🎉

Junky: Popular Penguins

By William S. Burroughs
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.85 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 70,358 ratings, 2,973 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Junky: Popular Penguins by William S. Burroughs offers a raw, first-person narrative that delves into the gritty underworld of drug addiction in post-war America. The book serves as a semi-autobiographical account, providing a candid exploration of the life of a heroin addict, capturing the societal and psychological impacts. Through a minimalist and unflinching prose style, it reveals the challenges and desperation of addiction without romanticisation.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$1599
Backorder
STOCK ARRIVING EARLY OCTOBER Order now to secure your copy from our next shipment

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

If you are drawn to gritty, first-hand accounts of addiction and the exploration of human frailty through raw and unflinching prose, this book may appeal to you. The author's candid depiction of his experiences provides a vivid and thought-provoking narrative, making it a compelling read for those interested in counterculture literature.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Junk is not, like alcohol or weed, a means to increased enjoyment in life. Junk is not a kick. It is a way of life.

Junky, Burroughs's cult classic, is a raw, semi-autobiographical account of drug addiction, which outraged America and influenced generations of writers to come. He relates with unflinching realism the highs and lows of dependency—euphoria, hallucinations, ghostly nocturnal wanderings, and strange sexual encounters.

Junky is a dark, powerful, and mesmerizing account of one man's challenge to turn self-destruction into art.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Junky: Popular Penguins by William S. Burroughs has been praised for Burroughs' hard, inventive, and poetic voice, which is distinctly American. He is celebrated for creating dark fairy tales that resonate with adult fears and desires, with popularity across generations. His writing is noted for its precision and fearless exploration of themes, earning him admiration as a visionary with significant influence on postwar literature.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780141045405

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 29 June 2009

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 12.0mm

Width: 112.0mm

Height: 180.0mm

Weight: 112g

Pages: 192

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Penguin Books Popular Penguins William S. Burroughs

About the Author

William S. Burroughs was born in 1914. His first published novel was the largely autobiographical Junky, which remains a classic depiction of the constant cycle of drug dependency, cures and relapses he was victim to for most of his life. In 1951, in a drunken William Tell stunt, he accidentally shot and killed his common-law wife. He is most famous for his use of the 'cut-up' technique of writing and the novel Naked Lunch. His other major works included Queer, Exterminator! The 'Nova Trilogy' (The Soft Machine, Nova Express and The Ticket That Exploded) and the 'Red Night Trilogy' (Cities of the Red Night, The Place of Dead Roads and The Western Lands). He died in 1997.

Also by William S. Burroughs

View all
  • Naked Lunch
    At long last, William S. Burroughs's cult classic and undoubted masterpiece enters Penguin Modern Classics. A cultural landmark and the most shocking novel in the English language, Naked Lunch is an exhilarating ride into the darkest recesses of the human psyche. An unnerving tale of an addict unmoored in New York, Tangier, and ultimately a nightmarish wasteland known as Interzone,...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Finger
    Fifty new books at £1 each, celebrating the pioneering spirit of the Penguin Modern Classics series, from inspiring essays to groundbreaking fiction and poetry. The Finger explores a myriad of bizarre and compelling vignettes. "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."...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    $699
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Cities of the Red Night
    The first part in a trilogy of novels, Cities of the Red Night satirises modern society in a shocking story of sex, drugs, disease, and adventure. An opium addict is lost in the jungle; young men wage war against an empire of mutants; a handsome young pirate faces his execution; and the world's population is infected with a radioactive epidemic....
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Junky
    Junky, Burroughs' first novel, remains the most unflinching, unsentimental account of addiction ever written. A largely autobiographical account, Junky explores the constant cycle of drug dependency, cures, and relapses. It takes readers through junk neighbourhoods in New York, New Orleans, and Mexico City, detailing time spent kicking, dealing, and rolling drunks for money. The narrative delves into junk sickness and...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Queer
    The definitive 25th-anniversary edition of Burroughs's legendary second novel. Originally written in 1952 but not published till 1985, Queer is an enigma. It serves as both an unflinching autobiographical self-portrait and a coruscatingly political novel. It is Burroughs' only realist love story and a montage of comic-grotesque fantasies that paved the way for his masterpiece, Naked Lunch. Set in Mexico...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Interzone
    An indispensable addition to the canon of Burroughs's works, this series of short stories and sketches guides the reader through his literary evolution. Interzone portrays the development of Burroughs's mature writing style by presenting a selection of pieces from the mid-1950s. His outrageous tone of voice represents the exorcism of four decades of oppressive sexual and social conditioning. Burroughs's close...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Junky
    New edition of the Penguin Essential of the most mesmerising account of heroin addiction ever written. Junk is not, like alcohol or weed, a means to increased enjoyment of life. Junk is not a kick. It is a way of life. William Burroughs, legendary drug addict, founder member of the Beats and author of Naked Lunch, relates with unflinching realism...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Naked Lunch
    A stunning clothbound edition of William S. Burroughs's cult classic and undoubted masterpiece. A cultural landmark and the most shocking novel in the English language, Naked Lunch is an exhilarating ride into the darkest recesses of the human psyche. An unnerving tale of an addict unmoored in New York, Tangier, and ultimately a nightmarish wasteland known as Interzone, Naked Lunch's...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Hardback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Place of Dead Roads
    Sci-fi meets the Old West in this obscene and hilarious novel from Naked Lunch author and Beat icon William S. Burroughs. This surreal fable, set in America's Old West, features a cast of notorious characters: The Crying Gun, who breaks into tears at the sight of his opponent; The Priest, who goes into gunfights giving his adversaries the last rites;...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Dead Fingers Talk
    Dead Fingers Talk
    Only edition in print First published in 1963 and representing Burroughs’s literary breakthrough in the UK, Dead Fingers Talk is, in the words of Burroughs scholar Oliver Harris, “a prophetic work of haunting power”, and is perhaps the most commercial and accessible of his works. Combining new material with selections from Naked Lunch and his cut-up novels The Soft Machine...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Don't Hide the Madness
    Two seminal figures of the Beat movement, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, discuss literary influences and personal history in a never-before-published three-day conversation following the release of the David Cronenberg film of Burroughs' classic novel Naked Lunch. The visit coincided with the shamanic exorcism of the demon that Burroughs believed had caused him to fatally shoot his common law...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • Exterminator!
    A man, dispirited by ageing, endeavours to steal a younger man's face; a doctor yearns for a virus that might eliminate his discomfort by turning everyone else into doubles of himself; a Colonel lays out the precepts of the life of DE (Do Easy); conspirators posthumously succeed in blowing up a train full of nerve gas; a mandrill known as...
    By William S. Burroughs
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE — Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE — Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE — Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS — Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale — Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    By Caro Claire Burke
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Fourth Wing
    THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NUMBER ONE GLOBAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON! DON'T MISS OUT ON THE SERIES THAT EVERYONE CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT: 'This book contains an addictive, drug-like essence that will make you relinquish all responsibility until the very last word. Do not say I didn't warn you' Glamour 'I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, and when I finished, I...
    By Rebecca Yarros
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Iron Flame
    The instant number one Sunday Times bestseller and thrilling sequel to the global phenomenon, Fourth Wing! DON'T BE THE LAST TO DISCOVER THE SERIES THAT EVERYONE CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT: 'Yarros is the true inheritor of Harry Potter and inspires Hunger Games levels of devotion' Guardian 'Fear not, levels of fighting, rebelliousness and all-round sexiness are still sky-high' Daily Mail...
    By Rebecca Yarros
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses
    The first instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON and TikTok sensation, from multi-million selling and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan – Time Harry Potter magic, Taylor Swift sass, Fifty Shades-level athleticism – The Sunday Times With bits of Buffy, Game of Thrones and Outlander, this is a glorious series...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Gate of the Feral Gods
    The fourth book in the explosive LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl series New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that's talent. Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy's most watched game show has taught Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $6000
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
    Carl and Princess Donut have to team up with other contestants to not just survive, but to solve a deadly puzzle in this third, mind-twisting novel in the addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition! Carl and Donut have survived so far, but this fourth level is unlike anything they could imagine. The...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $4700
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Dungeon Crawler Carl
    The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    New Release
    Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition. Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Court of Silver Flames
    The latest instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON, romantic fantasy epic and TikTok sensation, ACOTAR. From multi-million and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan - Time Think Game of Thrones meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a drizzle of E.L. James – Telegraph Spiced with slick plotting and atmospheric world-building...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all