The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, September 8, 2011- 3B

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, September 8, 2011 - 3B

D THE.

'NAKED LUNCH' (1959), WILLIAM BURROUGHS

The tangled
web of trends

Obscenity laid bare in 'Lunch'

s for the movement pat-
tern of human interest
explored in the 21st-cen-
tury novel, "The Tipping Point,"
Malcolm Gladwell knows
all: "The-
best way
to under-
stand the
emergence
of fashion
trends, the
ebb and flow
of crime JULIA .
waves, or, for sMITH-
that matter, EPPSTEINER
the trans-
formation of
unknown books into bestsellers,
or the rise of teenage smoking,
or the phenomena of word of
mouth, or any number of the
other mysterious changes that
mark everyday life is to think
of them as epidemics. Ideas
and products and messages
and behaviors spread just like
viruses do."
It's true. Trends inhabit
places like a good-looking
plague - an excited, contagious
spread of "let's look, talk, dance,
consume ... like this ... now." It
is a forward motion: always on
the edge, always about to adjust
a moment prior to the change of
season. In college, or at least in
the undergraduate land of Ann
Arbor, these trends tend to be
more exaggerated: more rapid
in rotation, more hipster and
with exception to our everyday-
enhanced technology, never
more than an arm's reach away
from recycling our parents' past.
Take Ray-Ban Wayfarers, for
example. The style was brought
to the forefront because of
"Risky Business" and "Break-
fast at Tiffany's," but it has
recently been reinstated by
stars like the Olsen twins and
Adam Brody. The leaders of the
popular - A-list movie stars -
establish what is hip. Trend X
proceeds to take its sweet time
to trickle down the food chain.
By the time it gets to the bot-
tom of society, the algae of the
human world, the celebrities
are riding a new trend wave. I
myself am still buying $10 fake-
Bans at the nearest Urban Out-
fitters, playing the continuous
game of catch-up.
The hip-virus seems to work
its way from the famous to the
working class, from the youth to
the wrinkled, and even from the
coasts to the middle of the U.S.
When arriving from southern
California as a freshman to the
University of Michigan, trying
not to clutch too tightly to any
expectations, I was confronted
with a comment from one of my
Michigander, Welcome Week
acquaintances - "Ann Arbor is
the San Francisco of the Mid-
west." It felt more like a nervous
apology than anything else.
I enjoy believing this state-
ment to be a maxim - a law of
trend.
My unavoidably biased opin-
ion that "everything starts on
the West Coast" somewhat
crumbles when I think of my
four-year temporary home here
in Ann Arbor. Yes, it's true -
Pinkberry, theme parks, Google,
LSD, Carne Asada burritos with
French fries in the mix, Levi's,
rave parties and Hells Angels
Motorcycle Club all originated

NEW STORES
From Page 1B
Hut-K Chaats, an Indian restau-
rant serving traditional Indian
street food with a healthy, all-
natural twist, is run by Sumi
Bhojani and her husband, Dr.
Mahaveer Swaroop Bhojani, a
University cancer researcher.
The duo added their cart to the
courtyard in late July. Because
the restaurant's original loca-
tion on Packard St. is several
miles from campus, the pair
wanted a location closer to
downtown at a more affordable
price.
"We wanted something closer
to the town and a bigger place
would have been expensive,"
Sumi Bhojani said.
Business ebbs and flows with
the student population, taut since

in the Golden State, but does
that really say anything about
trendiness?
Probably not.
Somehow, the hip ideas and
trends - most likely coming
from the opposing coasts of our
country and occasionally from
Europe - travel rapid-fire to
the city of Ann Arbor. And we
Ann Arborites sure show our
pride in that.
It seems the "hipster" (flash
image of Natalie Portman in
"Garden State" and Johnny
Depp in anything) has become
mainstream in Ann Arbor, mak-
ing it so that if one is hipster in
its truest form, he or she must
be double hipster - hipsters,
for one, must not regard them-
selves as hipster, and secondly,
they must display trendiness in
a manner of exterior effortless-
ness.
I believe that any queen
or king of "hip," whether it
is Regina George or Michael
Jackson, would recommend to
each and every one of us to con-
stantly reinvent ourselves and
influence the trending culture.
And if by "dress" we mean live,
I endorse Tracy Jordan's advice
to Kenneth in season one of "30
Rock": "Dress every day like
you're going to get murdered in
those clothes."
Trendiness:
It's not just for
California.
Let's not forget that trends
surpass the threads and bling
that cover our bodies and are
defined within the broader
context of social media. Take
the evolution from MySpace to
Facebook to Google+, the odd
"I'll follow you if you follow me"
Tumblr exchange, and hashtags
altering communication of the
English language. What's trend-
ing: Are we leading it or is it
leading us?
I think it's a conversation
that never sleeps. The annoy-
ing kind where no one hangs
up because that would mean
someone would have to say "I
love you" last. What we like to
research in our private time,
model on the streets and con-
verse about with our closest
friends is constantly changing,
and that's why Earth is such
a fascinating place to be. Hip
defines us and we define it; no
one is an innocent bystander
because even if you're out of the
loop, you are defining trend X
by living outside of it. By being
anti-cool, you are making the
beautiful beast stronger.
Indeed, the innate ephemeral
quality of a trend is what makes
it. If you linger too long or live
too long inside of a certain
trend, the hip world will move
onto new stages, leaving you
alone with your Dell computer
and scrunchie (which, accord-
ing to Carrie Bradshaw, has
never been in style to wear out-
side of the bathroom).
Smith-Eppsteiner is starting a
trend of long last names. To follow
her, e-mail julialix@umich.edu.

the cart opened, their store has
seen business improve, as cus-
tomers have been able to discover
the restaurant's unique offerings.
"The town is very cosmopoli-
tan. People in Ann Arbor are
quite open and willing to try new
stuff," Sumi Bhojani said. "(The
cart's) a good way to send them
over to the restaurant."
The fearless attitude of these
business owners testifies to Ann
Arbor's rich entrepreneurial
landscape, dotted with more
locally owned businesses than
most areas have big-box stores.
It is perhaps this willingness to
open up and explore an environ-
ment plagued by recession that
makes the area so vibrant. As
long as this spirit exists within
the community, entrepreneurs
will keep finding new and better
ways to introduce themselves to
the city's residents.

By JOE CADAGIN
Daily Fine Arts Editor
What's the raunchiest, most
obscene thing you've ever read?
Maybe you've secretly perused
one of those pornographic dime
novels that bookstores try to
pass off as "romance." Maybe
you've peeked at those dirty sto-
ries in the back of women's beau-
ty/gossip magazines. Or maybe
you've even read William Bur-
roughs's "Naked Lunch."
To even attempt a descrip-
tion of Burroughs's novel is a
daunting task - "unconven-
tional" would be an understate-
ment. Lacking any plot, "Naked
Lunch" is a series of loosely con-
nected, stream-of-consciousness
vignettes. Graphic descriptions
of depraved sexual acts - both
heterosexual and homosexual
- are juxtaposed with nauseat-
ing accounts of activities usually
confined to the bathroom. The
result is the literary equivalent
of turning over a rock to see
the squirming, sickening world
beneath and being both fascinat-
ed and repulsed by its contents.
First published in 1959, Bur-
roughs's novel, along with Allen
Ginsberg's poem "Howl" and
Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," is
one of the most important works
to come out of the American
beatnik movement. The book
was written over a period of nine
years, during which Burroughs
wandered the globe feeding a
serious heroin addiction. "Junk,"
the slang term he uses to refer to
the drug, is central to the novel
and inspired the work's gro-
tesque and fantastical images
- everything from a necrophilic
death orgy to a talking anus.
Good taste dictates that I
withhold describing some of the
novel's more gruesome and vul-
gar episodes. But the fact that
I could publish excerpts if I so
DAILY ARTS
IS
KIND
OF
LIKE
HOG WARTS
BUT
WITHOUT
THE
MAGIC.
IT'S STILL
VERY NICE.

CONSIDER
THIS YOUR
INVITE.
WE DON'T
HAVE
OWLS.
E-mail
join.arts@umich.edu for
information on applying.

desired, or that you can read a
smutty romance novel or explore
"50 ways to please your man" in
the latest issue of Glamour, is
testament to the significance of
Burroughs and his contempo-
raries.
"Naked Lunch" was published
at a time of dramatic change
in what authors were allowed
to print. Two years earlier, in
1957, Ginsberg's magnum opus
"Howl" was deemed obscene
for its depiction of drug use
and homosexuality. The First
Amendment won out, however,
in a landmark trial - depicted
in the 2010 film "Howl" starring
James Franco - that protected
the poem from censorship.
The "Howl" trial opened the
door for other radical works.
D.H. Lawrence's scandalous
"Lady Chatterley's Lover,"
which includes X-rated scenes

A landmark 1957 obscenity trial, depicted here in the 2010 film "Howl," laid
the groundwork for the publishing of William Burrough's "Naked Lunch."

and rep
and C
publica
written
Tier.

R
ar
ai

petitive use of the F-bomb be published, then practically
-word, finally reached anything could.
tion in 1959 despite being By reveling in the taboo, Bur-
more than 30 years ear- roughs seems to challenge the
censors directly. At some par-
ticularly explicit points, it seems
as if the novel is a purposeful
1 h ex experiment tosee just how much
a y X one could get away with in the
a talking literary world - or just how
.id much one could offend a deeply
rius. W hat's conservative American audience.
In reading "Naked Lunch,"
zXt?'Teeth' then, each filthy passage becomes
as much a cause for celebration
as it is for squeamishness. It's
hard to tear yourself away from
le the publication of Law- Burroughs's opiate-induced
:nd Ginsberg's works was nightmare, especially when you
r breakthrough, it must understand the battle fought to
ed that "Lady Chatterley" defend every word from the cen-
Howl" are comparatively sor's knife.
ext to "Naked Lunch." It Yet Burroughs's novel wasn't
herefore something like intended purely for shock value.
al victory for free speech Our interest in the work reveals a
Burroughs's text finally much deeper truth about human
d American shelves in nature: the perverse delight we
I a work as obscene and take in things low and vulgar.
t as "Naked Lunch" could Just like the writhing, maggot-

inhabited world beneath the
rock, "Naked Lunch" becomes
a playground for the reader to
explore his or her own sup-
pressed fascination with the
indecent.
Burroughs even goes so far
as to suggest that it is this dark
corner of our nature that con-
trols our lives entirely. In the
humorous account of the man
who teaches his anus to talk, the
articulate butthole begins to eat
and drink and speak on its own.
Eventually, it takes over the man
completely, closing off his mouth
and killing his brain.
Though Burroughs's cyni-
cal outlook on humanity is
debatable, there's no denying
our attraction to the obscene.
A frightening blitzkrieg of sex,
drugs and potty humor, "Naked
Lunch" marked the dawn of a
new age in which a writer was
free to explore every aspect of
human nature. Or at least to pub-
lish "10 tried-and-true tips to
improve your sex life."

Whi
rence a
a majo
be note
and "T
tame n
was tI
the fin
when
reaches
1962: I
explicit