Exterminator!
 First edition | |
| Author | William S. Burroughs |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Roy Kuhlman |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
Publication date | 1973 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 168 |
Exterminator! is a short story collection written by William S. Burroughs and first published in 1973. Early editions label the book a novel.
It is not to be confused with The Exterminator, another collection of stories Burroughs published in 1960 in collaboration with Brion Gysin.
The collection contains a number of Burroughs' most popular short pieces, such as "Twilight's Last Gleamings", "The Discipline of DE", "Wind Die, You Die, We Die", "Ali's Smile", and "The Coming of the Purple Better One". Some of the stories, such as "Ali's Smile", had previously been published in other books and magazines such as Rolling Stone, Village Voice, Evergreen Review, and Esquire Magazine.
The title story is about an insect exterminator, a job Burroughs himself once held. Certain aspects of this story were used in the film version of Naked Lunch, with the main character William Lee (a portrayal of Burroughs) holding the same job at the film's beginning.
In the 1980s, actor Ed Asner recorded a spoken word adaptation of "Wind Die. You Die. We Die", while Burroughs and Kurt Cobain recorded a musical version of one of the stories as The "Priest" They Called Him.
Some of the stories were initially published elsewhere, such as "Ali's Smile", which was also later included in Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology. A different story entitled "Twilight's Last Gleamings" appears in the later collection, Interzone.
Story list
Exterminator! contains the following stories:
- "Exterminator!"
- The Lemon Kid
- Short Trip Home
- Davy Jones
- The Evening News
- Astronaut's Return
- My Face
- Wind Die. You Die. We Die.
- End of the Line
- The Drums of Death
- "Johnny 23"
- The Discipline of DE
- The Perfect Servant
- Ali's Smile
- Twilight's Last Gleamings
- The Coming of the Purple Better One
- "What Washington? What Orders?"
- From Here to Eternity
- The Teacher
- They Do Not Always Remember
- Friends
- Seeing Red
- Old Movie
- Electricals
- SPUT
- Reddies
- The "Priest" They Called Him
- My Legs Señor
- The End
- Cold Lost Marbles
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