Cities of the Red Night
The Red Night Trilogy • Book 1
by William S. Burroughs
Narrated by Ray Porter
Why Listen to This Audiobook?
Burroughs wrote this to disorient you, and Ray Porter delivers it like a man who has fully accepted that mission.
- Great if you want: experimental fiction that mixes noir, plague, and pirate revolt
- Listening experience: deliberately fragmented and hypnotic — demands surrender, not comprehension
- Narration: Porter's grounded voice keeps the chaos from becoming unlistenable
- Skip if: plot coherence is non-negotiable for you
About This Audiobook
A deadly plague spreads through interconnected realms where time fractures and reality bends to the will of those who control the viral pathogen. Burroughs weaves together multiple narratives spanning different eras and dimensions, following characters who navigate a world where an ancient disease grants terrible powers to its survivors while transforming society into something unrecognizable. Private investigators, revolutionaries, and plague victims collide across shifting landscapes as competing forces battle for control of the contagion that rewrites the very fabric of existence.
Ray Porter delivers Burroughs' hallucinogenic prose with remarkable clarity, never allowing the author's experimental style to overwhelm the underlying narrative threads. His measured pacing gives listeners time to absorb the dense, layered storytelling while maintaining momentum through the novel's more challenging passages. Porter's versatile vocal range distinguishes the extensive cast of characters without resorting to distracting affectations, and his steady delivery transforms what could be an impenetrable text into an immersive journey through Burroughs' fractured imagination. The audio format particularly suits this kaleidoscopic work, allowing the language to flow naturally while listeners navigate the author's nonlinear structure.
