Cities of the Red Night (William S. Burroughs)

So I decided that if I really want to read Burroughs I should probably read everything he ever wrote. Cities of the Red Night is the first of a late trilogy (a designation that would seem kind of arbitrary for a writer like Burroughs to impose on his works, but it does make sense). In my opinion, this book is simply delicious, and probably my favorite of Bill's writings that I have read so far. My favorite, I think, partially because it makes the most sense. It begins with a few seemingly random, but apparently related fragments, but then it launches into two linear plots that run parallel to eachother: Clem the private asshole (detective), who investigates the disappearance of a young man (this takes place in the early 20th century, if I remember correctly); and Noah, who gets recruited to sail with a group of libertarian pirates who aspire to set up a kind of utopian society (I think this is in the 16th or 17th century). The two stories move along in an ever-so-satisfactory way, becoming increasingly linked to eachother by evidence of a plague resembling Scarlet Fever, and by the frequent descriptions of sexual hanging deaths. Towards the end we are introduced to the Cities of the Red Night: a group of cities whose history suggests the origins of a radioactive plague that has been rampant throughout the book. The two main plots begin to morph and merge until the signature Burroughs cutup feel threatens to take over...in the end, though, I think it remains remarkably coherent. And beautiful.