Books: King of the YADS

NAKED LUNCH (255 pp.)—William Burroughs—Grove ($6).

The Young American Disaffiliates (they used to be called beats, but nothing stays simple) have not done well. In matters of finance this is their intention, since the supermarket society is what they have disaffiliated from. But in literature it is merely their embarrassment. Here the best to be said for the YADs is that among them are Allen Ginsberg (Howl). Gregory Corso (Fried Shoes) and Jack Kerouac (On the Road). And the best to be said for these three is that each might have done something worth...