The Ticket That Exploded is a postmodern science fiction novel by William S. Burroughs. It was published in 1962. It is second in a trilogy of science fiction novels : The Soft Machine, The Ticket That Exploded and Nova Express.
This book is the final word in cut-ups and Burroughs' tape experiments of the early 1960's. This is Burroughs' most beautifully written text, if somewhat overrepetitive at times. Moreso than in Naked Lunch or in Nova Express, Burroughs fleshes out his ideas about language "being a virus from outer space", and looks forward to his essay, The Electronic Revolution. This is a tough and uncompromising book, filled with beautiful nonsequitors, funny anecdotal tales, and plenty homoerotic sexual fantasies and realitease.
