Nova Express (26 page)

The note Burroughs pasted onto the galleys in July 1964 explains the origins of this material as “first written in 1938” in collaboration with his boyhood friend Kells Elvins. He would recall this scenario elsewhere (in
The Third Mind
and
The Adding Machine
), but the most vivid account is in the unpublished draft of a longer autobiographical sketch: “A hard boiled detective story bogged down when we read
The Left Handed Passenger
and got all the references on the
Titanic
and started something called Twilight's Last Gleamings which I used recently in
Nova Express
re-written from memory the manuscript is lost long ago. We acted out the parts giggling in delight over such lines as ‘His revolver swung free of his brassiere and he fired twice.' ‘I don't know I feel sorta bad about this old finger.' The innocence of young writers” (ASU 7).

Burroughs not only produced several versions of this section, he experimented with numerous different layouts. The earliest, an eight-page typescript he identified as first draft for “Chapter VI” of his March 1962 MS (OSU 2.3), has a running banner at the top and foot of every page in block capitals using cut-up lyrics from
The Star-Spangled Banner
. The page format is a direct echo of
The Exterminator
, and indeed this typescript has many lines of material from that text, even though Burroughs' note refers to using the “first cut-ups” from
Minutes to Go
. This typescript is also distinctive for dividing the page into sections by hand-ruled horizontal lines and for using forward slashes throughout and no em dashes. None of these features appear in Burroughs' second version, a four-page typescript that is close to the published text (OSU 2.3). The version in
Evergreen Review
7.29 (March 1963) is identical except for minor differences.

While most of the first version overlaps the published text, it also includes long passages that seem independent of it, and Burroughs wrote other versions that incorporate anomalous-seeming material. That he produced extensive alternative drafts does not suggest he had any reservations about this section, but apparently Brion Gysin did, and when Burroughs had corrected the galleys he wrote to his editor, Richard Seaver: “Mr Gysin felt that the ship wreck chapter (Gave Proof Through The Night [galley] page 37) was not in keeping with the rest of the book and should be omitted. I am undecided on this point and would be interested to hear your opinion” (Burroughs to Seaver, July 21, 1964; SU). Even though it was precisely interrelated to other parts of the novel—the central image of a man boarding the first lifeboat in drag recurs in three other sections—Burroughs was quite prepared to drop it and offer Seaver “something I think is quite appropriate to substitute”; but, fortunately, “Gave Proof Through the Night” remained in
Nova Express
.

126 “He jerked the handle”: a full rough typescript (ASU 7) continues:
“Yage Pintar Yage pintar/”
For the use of this phrase, see
The Yage Letters
(26, 95).

126 “appendectomy in 1910 at Harvard”: the earliest typescript (and, near verbatim, ASU 7), continues;
“I Sekuin perfected this art along the Chang Dynasty/ Vegetarian Walkers are
not
subject to appendicitis/ Vestige Organ/ Before White Time/ Dead Hand Stretching The Vegetable People/ Rabbits have Over large appendixes/”
(OSU 2.3).

127 “Mrs. J. L. Bradshinkel”: in earlier drafts this is
“Mrs Bryan, Ship Owner”
(Berg 11.24). Lucy Bradshinkel appears in
Naked Lunch
and Billy Bradshinkel in
The Yage Letters
.

127 “Mike B. Dweyer, Politician from Clayton Missouri”: in the first version, where the politician is
“Mike Brown”
and he doesn't come from Missouri, this line is preceded by a page of quite distinct material, beginning:
“
‘Do you think The Captain controls this ship Mr Bane? Unions! Unions! Brown Deal/ Foe Deal/ The West Side Push I told”
(OSU 2.3).

128 “screaming for help like everyone else”: in the four-page second draft this is a line of speech:
“—Go on scream like everyone else on the boat—”
(OSU 2.3).

129 “The Captain stiff-armed an old lady”: the four-page second draft has
“Captain Norman”
(OSU 2.3).

129 “Perkins brought down his knife”: the first version continues:
“Swift Sword/ Switch Blade Preferred/”
(OSU 2.3).

130 “her souvenirs of the disaster”: characteristically, the first version interpolates cut-up lines, continuing here:
“Will Hollywood never learn? Unimaginable Disaster Ten Age Future Time / A Life Belt autographed by The Crew and a Severed Human Finger / Remember my medium of distant fingers?/ Talk in flak braille”
(OSU 2.3). The typescript continues with another 150 words before concluding:
“From the First/Raise Out Time Position/ Before Terminal Time/ From The First IN THEE WORD WAS THEE BEGINNING/”

SOS

Identified by Burroughs as “Chapter 13,” the earliest draft of this section appeared in the March 1962 MS under the title “Blue Junction.” This seven-page typescript is, in Burroughs' description, mostly “source material” (OSU 2.4) and only about one page (250 words) would remain in the published text. Burroughs produced at least one more version (Berg 48.19) before completing a revised three-page typescript included in the October 1962 MS. This typescript, which has the new title “SOS” (with “SOLID BLUE SILENCE” added in autograph and then canceled), retained a little more from the original draft and included another full page of new cut-up material, but all of this, over 400 words, would be cut at the final galley stage. In July 1964 Burroughs also added almost 100 words of new material to the galleys to give the section a different ending.

130 “The cold heavy fluid settled in a mountain village”: Burroughs' redaction at the galley stage started with the opening line, which originally read:
“The cold heavy fluid settled in his spine—He moved slow hydraulic motion to a mountain village of slate houses where time stops in blue twilight—”
(OSU 5.11).

130 “Heavy con men selling issues”: one draft has:
“con men
who sell whole universes issues of fraudulent universe stock, real estate on Novia Ground and all the money goes back into their Silence habit”
(Berg 48.19).

131 “Martin came to Blue Junction”: with minor differences, this is where the first draft (OSU 2.4) begins.

132 “a silent blue twilight”: the first draft continues with a canceled line:
“Martin could see the entire ranch and all the workers on his blue view screen of photo collage”
(OSU 2.4).

132 “poker play and flesh trade”: the first draft continues with a new paragraph that further clarifies the location (“ranch”) and genre (Western) Burroughs had in mind:
“The blues clashed with the Yellows who lived in the next ranch a dry hot desert place of crab men with white hot insect eyes”
(OSU 2.4).

132 “Empty picture”: from here to “flapping gunsmoke” was an insert pasted onto the final long galleys (OSU 5.12).

SHORT COUNT

The manuscript history of this section is itself short: just the final four-page typescript in the October 1962 MS, which shows a small number of minor differences and a few lines of unused text. Burroughs would cancel almost 60 words at the galley stage.

134 “Heavy Metal People of Uranus”: the October 1962 MS continues with a longer version that indicates how Burroughs redacted the section on the galleys:
“wrapped in
orange flesh robes that grow on them, the little high fi junk note tinkling through cool
nerves remote mineral calm entered in a heavy blue mist of vaporized bank notes.”

TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING

This was one of the earliest written sections and Burroughs identified its first version, a three-page typescript, as “Chapter IV” of his March 1962 MS (OSU 2.3), so that it was shifted from near the beginning toward the end for his final manuscript. He reworked this draft at least once more (Berg 11.23) before submitting a revised draft in late 1961 to
Evergreen Review
, where, with very minor differences, it appeared in the January 1962 issue under the title “TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMINGS” (Burroughs always used the incorrect plural, which is reproduced in “Gave Proof Through the Night”). The final two-page typescript is verbatim except for punctuation and capitalization changes (OSU 4.9).

136 “The Gods of Time-Money-Junk”: the earliest draft has a quintet of evil deities rather than a trinity (here and in the three later instances in this section):
“The Gods of Time Junk Money Body Death”
(OSU 2.3).

137 “all I said a million silver bullets”: the earliest draft has:
“all i sed waiting hole in pain funnel a million silver bullets—”
(OSU 2.3). Significantly, even when this line was edited on both later drafts and for
Evergreen Review
, the spelling “sed” was retained (Berg 11.27 and OSU 4.9); it was changed by the copyeditor on OSU 4.9. Burroughs also used “sed” elsewhere in his manuscripts.

139 “In sun I held the stale overcoat”: in a handwritten note beside this line on Burroughs' manuscript, Gysin asked:
“Do you really want the lower case ‘I'?”
(Berg 11.27). Burroughs' answer at the time (fall 1961) seems to have been, “Yes,” since the change to upper case “I” was almost certainly not made until the galley stage in July 1964. This whole paragraph and the next reproduce verbatim the ending of the revised
Soft Machine
(which used two-thirds of the final three paragraphs of the original 1961
Soft Machine
).

This Horrible Case

THIS HORRIBLE CASE

According to the book's “Foreword Note,” Burroughs wrote this section in collaboration with Ian Sommerville, although there is no obvious difference in the writing. However, by “section,” Burroughs meant not the four-part chapter but the specific section “Two Tape Recorder Mutations,” and it is logical that Sommerville, with his technical expertise, was responsible for this material. Burroughs' first draft was a five-page typescript identified as “Chapter 14” and entitled “The Biologic Police and Courts” (OSU 2.4). Since its first page appears in the “Coordinate Points” section, Burroughs must have returned to this draft and split it up, as well as cutting over 200 words and adding 300 more by the time of the final near-verbatim version (OSU 4.9). This four-page typescript, dating from pre-October 1962, has the canceled original title, “THE BIOLOGIC COURTS AND COUNSELLORS,” with “This Horrible Case” added by Burroughs in autograph (and also canceled, as he tried to avoid duplicating
section
and
chapter
titles).

142 “mental and physical cruelty”: corrects
NEX
134 (“metal”); the typo, which is made by Burroughs on OSU 2.4 and corrected by him in autograph, did not appear on OSU 4.9 or on the galleys.

143 “invasion and manipulation”: the first draft continues with a canceled paragraph beginning:
“
‘Better forget those lines altogether' said Uranian U sharply ‘Your detestation for the life form you invaded is not regarded as an extenuating circumstance in The Biologic Courts—
'
”
(OSU 2.4).

144 “Alternative Word Island”:
NEX
136 follows the galleys, but OSU 2.4 and OSU 4.9 both have
“Ward Island,”
a location that also appears in
The Ticket That Exploded.
It is impossible to say whether the “Alternative Word” was a typo, a transcription error or a self-reflexive revision on Burroughs' part.

BRIEF FOR THE FIRST HEARING

The first draft of this material comprises the first two pages of an eight-page typescript entitled “The Biologic Courts and Counsellors” (OSU 2.2), and Burroughs made only relatively light revisions to it for the section's final draft (OSU 4.9). He added the section title in autograph, replacing “THE BIOLOGIC COURTS AND COUNCELLORS (CONTINUED).”

146 “to open biologic potentials for his client”: the first draft has a different version:
“to represent a client in a favorable light biologically speaking signalling out aspects of beauty or function tending to survival—”
(OSU 2.2).

BRIEF FOR FIRST HEARING / / CASE OF LIFE FORM A

The published section shows few changes from the last six pages of an eight-page typescript entitled “The Biologic Courts and Counsellors” (OSU 2.2). The verbatim final draft dates from pre-October 1962 (using the spelling “novia”). In first draft there was no subdivision of material to separate it from the previous section, whereas the final typescript includes the title.

150 “Coughing enemy pulled in and replaced”: the first draft continues:
“dirty pictures—reverse instructions—Iron claws of pain and pleasure stylishly dressed—”
(OSU 2.2).

152 “suspended pending mutation proceedings”: the final phrase is one of the few not to appear on OSU 2.2.

TWO TAPE RECORDER MUTATIONS

The first draft of this section, an untitled three-page sequence, is a continuation of “The Biologic Courts and Counsellors” (OSU 2.2). As with drafts for most cut-up sections, the very rough typescript shows a good deal of unused material from which Burroughs made selections (marked by underlining blocks of text in hand, although this was not always applied). The verbatim three-page final draft (OSU 4.9) has the section title added by Burroughs in autograph. The title phrase appears in his correspondence in early April 1962, referring to “some interesting experiments” carried out with Michael Portman and Ian Sommerville (
ROW
, 103).