Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology
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| Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology | |
 Expanded Media Editions paperback edition. |
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| Author | William S. Burroughs |
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| Country | United States, West Germany |
| Language | English, German |
| Genre(s) | Correspondence, religion, short stories |
| Publisher | Expanded Media Editions |
| Publication date | 1978 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 3880300119 , ISBN 978-3880300118 |
Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology is the title of a short collection of essays and fiction by William S. Burroughs which was first published in 1978. The short story "Ali's Smile" had previously been published on its own in 1971 and later in the collection, Exterminator!. The collected edition was published by Expanded Media Editions of West Germany.
The contents are a collection of different texts that all have one subject in common: they all deal one way or the other with Scientology (or Dianetics), the body of teachings founded by L. Ron Hubbard. The original edition of the Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology collection was bilingual, with the text printed in both English and German - the latter in translation by editor Carl Weissner.
The first half of the book documents a series of articles and letters written by Burroughs in early 1970s and published in various newsletters and magazines. The first of these texts is an article reprinted from the Los Angeles Free Press, March 6, 1970, entitled "Burroughs On Scientology" in which he, quite critically, describes his personal experience with the religion, as he was briefly a member before quitting and becoming a critic of the movement. Burroughs also attacked psychiatry in the article. This article sparked a storm of letters and controversy between Burroughs and the Church of Scientology.
The second text is an "Open Letter To Mister Gorden Mustain" which was originally published in The East Village Other only July 7, 1970. It was a response to Mustain who had attacked Burroughs in the pages of the Free Press over his stand on Scientology.
The third text is a reprint of a review by Burroughs of the book Inside Scientology by Robert Kaufman from the November 9, 1972 issue of Rolling Stone. This is followed by a letter from a Church of Scientology representative in reaction to the review of Kaufman's book, and then Burroughs' reply to that.
Although Burroughs writes that he finds some techniques from Scientology "highly valuable," he criticizes what he describes as "Mr. Hubbard's overtly fascist utterances" on American and international politics. He considers Hubbard to be out of sync with the radical youth movement of the period, and asks rhetorically, "which side are you on, Hubbard, which side are you on?"[1]
The book ends with a fictional, stream-of-consciousness text by Burroughs inspired by Scientology entitled "Ali's Smile".
[edit] References
- ^ Online version William S. Burroughs. Ali's Smile, Naked Scientology 1971.]
[edit] External links
- Online version of the book in PDF format.
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