The Wayward Interzone

I read the novel Naked Lunch… and was amazed by how similar it is to my novel The Wayward School for Girls. Both books are surreal to the point of absurdity. Both are strangely violent and sexual. The main difference between the two novels is that the erotica of Naked Lunch is generally homosexual and that of The Wayward School for Girls is generally heterosexual.

Boys are the victims of lust killing in Naked Lunch. They are murdered for the viewing pleasure of patrons in a nightclub and hung from the ceiling. Girls are the victims in The Wayward School for Girls. The principal calls students to his office and has his way with them, murdering them when is he finished.

Naked Lunch is about a man on the run from the authorities. He ventures into exotic lands while doing so. The Wayward School for Girls is about two little girls on the run from the authorities. They venture into strange lands while doing so. These stark similarities are coincidental.

Naked Lunch was written by William S. Burroughs. It was published in 1959, when the author was forty-five years old. The Wayward School for Girls was written by me, Shawn O’Toole, when I was fifty-three years old.

Burroughs was a hedonist. He indulged in every pleasure. His novel is about indulgence. Interestingly, he is honest about the consequences of such a lifestyle. Everything is expressed matter-of-fact, rather than as social commentary.

I am wholesome. I seldom indulge. My novel is about indulgence, however. The villains rape and kill but the protagonists enjoy killing too. Everything is expressed honestly. My fantasies are unabashed.

I wrote The Wayward School for Girls and read Naked Lunch in 2024. They are both weird fiction erotica of a type seldom read or written. I am glad I am not the only one to fancy such a style.