William Burroughs, Ghost of a Chance

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William S. Buroughs’s novella, Ghost of a Chance, is his last published fictional work of length. Published in 1991, the novella represents Burroughs’s clearest articulation of ecological concerns alongside utopian political/social theories he had developed in his work at least since The Wild Boys (1971). He sums up the overall theme of the novella, writing:

A rift is built into the human organism, the rift or cleft between the two hemispheres, so any attempt at synthesis must remain unrealizable in human terms. I draw a parallel between this rift separating the two sides of the human body and the rift that divided Madagascar from the mainland of Africa. One side of the rift drifted into enchanted …

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Citation: Bolton, Michael Sean. "Ghost of a Chance". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 October 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4973, accessed 28 March 2024.]

4973 Ghost of a Chance 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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