Dead Fingers Talk Author:William S. Burroughs Dead Fingers Talk, first published in 1963, combines sections from Naked Lunch, The Soft Machine and The Ticket That Exploded combined together to create a new narrative. Dead Fingers Talk, like many of Burroughs' works, was controversial upon its release. It was the subject of a scathing review in the Times Literary Supplement that resulted... more » in a war of words between supporters and detractors of the novel (and Burroughs in general) that played out in the magazine's letters page for months.« less