--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Skullcrack City messes with your mind the…" description: "\"Skullcrack City messes with your mind the way William Burroughs or a bellyful of hallucinogens will do. I'm a longtime fan of Johnson. A master of dera..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/laird-barron-17739_burroughs_skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-th_3033713.jpg" --- # Skullcrack City messes with your mind the way William… ![“Skullcrack City messes with your mind the way William Burroughs or a bellyful of hallucinogens will do. I'm a longtime fan of Johnson. A master of derangement, he's been bringing it for years. This time, though, it's different. He's burst into the clear and is taking seven-league strides across…” quote by Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/laird-barron-17739_burroughs_skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-th_3033713.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/laird-barron-17739_burroughs_skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-th_3033713.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/laird-barron-17739_burroughs_skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-th_3033713.jpg) > “Skullcrack City messes with your mind the way William Burroughs or a bellyful of hallucinogens will do. I'm a longtime fan of Johnson. A master of derangement, he's been bringing it for years. This time, though, it's different. He's burst into the clear and is taking seven-league strides across the literary landscape.” [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Skullcrack City challenges the mind like hallucinogens; the author evolves, making bold literary strides. **In simple terms:** The work is mind‑bending and groundbreaking. Key Takeaway Embrace experimental art. Themes literature psychedelia innovation Mood intrigued provocative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reading experimental fiction - art criticism - creative workshops Key Concepts creative writing psychology culture Questions to Reflect On - What makes a work transformative? - How do you handle challenging art? A Different Perspective Such intensity may alienate some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Hallucinogens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucinogens/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [William Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/william-burroughs/) ## Related quotes > [Worrying is a waste of time. It doesnt change anything. It messes with your mind and steals your happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/worrying-is-a-waste-of-time-it-doesnt-change-anything-it-messes-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Worrying is a waste of time. It doesn't change anything. It messes with your mind and steal your happiness ..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/worrying-is-a-waste-of-time-it-doesn-t-change-anything-it-messes-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Love messes up the mind. It actually does. It does things to our brain which no other things can. The part of our brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romi-d/love-messes-up-the-mind-it-actually-does-it-does-things-to-our-brain/) Romi D > [The rain fluctuates between drizzle and torrential. It messes with your mind. It makes you think things will always be like this, never getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susane-colasanti/the-rain-fluctuates-between-drizzle-and-torrential-it-messes-with/) [Susane Colasanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susane-colasanti/) > [Worrying is a waste of time; it doesn't change anything, it just messes with your mind and steals your happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/worrying-is-a-waste-of-time-it-doesn-t-change-anything-it-just-messes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Over thinking changes nothing, it messes with your mind and literally steals your happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/over-thinking-changes-nothing-it-messes-with-your-mind-and-literally/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Worring is a waste of time . It doesn't change anything it messes with your mind and steals your happiness... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/worring-is-a-waste-of-time-it-doesn-t-change-anything-it-messes-with/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Derangement is the only possible explanation for owning a cat, an animal whose preferred mode of communication is to sink its claws three-quarters of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/derangement-is-the-only-possible-explanation-for-owning-a-cat-an/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [I believe in a long, prolonged, derangement of the senses in order to obtain the unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/i-believe-in-a-long-prolonged-derangement-of-the-senses-in-order-to/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [Art is the reasoned derangement of the senses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-rexroth/art-is-the-reasoned-derangement-of-the-senses/) [Kenneth Rexroth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-rexroth/) > [Public postures have the configuration of private derangement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/public-postures-have-the-configuration-of-private-derangement/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [In order to have the stuff of a tyrant, a certain mental derangement is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/in-order-to-have-the-stuff-of-a-tyrant-a-certain-mental-derangement/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [The Empire is the institution, the codification, of derangement; it is insane and imposes its insanity on us by violence, since its nature is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/the-empire-is-the-institution-the-codification-of-derangement-it-is/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“I must say that I thought there was some derangement of his mental organization.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candice-millard/i-must-say-that-i-thought-there-was-some-derangement-of-his-mental/) [Candice Millard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candice-millard/) > [The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-pasteur/the-greatest-derangement-of-the-mind-is-to-believe-in-something/) [Louis Pasteur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-pasteur/) ## More by Laird Barron > [“When, you wonder, does Sarah go west and build her rambling mansion? Not yet. Soon, but not yet. First, her husband has to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/when-you-wonder-does-sarah-go-west-and-build-her-rambling-mansion-not/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [“Like cobblestones, clouds formed a path that led down after the hidden sun, whose glow dyed the clouds a deep, purplish pink.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/like-cobblestones-clouds-formed-a-path-that-led-down-after-the-hidden/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [“I cannot explain, nor must an artist defend his work or elucidate in such a way the reeling audience can fathom, brutes that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/i-cannot-explain-nor-must-an-artist-defend-his-work-or-elucidate-in/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [A Pretty Mouth is a fine and stylish collection that pays homage to the tradition of the weird while blazing its own sinister mark.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/a-pretty-mouth-is-a-fine-and-stylish-collection-that-pays-homage-to/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [“It grew steadily dimmer, God’s thumb on the dial.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/it-grew-steadily-dimmer-god-s-thumb-on-the-dial/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [Horror is my motor. It gets to me on an animal level and satisfies my impulse toward scenario building.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/horror-is-my-motor-it-gets-to-me-on-an-animal-level-and-satisfies-my/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [Pulver's skills as a post-Beat visionary are in rare form. A House of Hollow Wounds is a thrilling foray into the dark frontier of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/pulver-s-skills-as-a-post-beat-visionary-are-in-rare-form-a-house-of/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [“The deepest cavern in the world is the human heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/the-deepest-cavern-in-the-world-is-the-human-heart/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [“—Only fools and the dead never change their mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/only-fools-and-the-dead-never-change-their-mind/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [but art is not relative to perfection in any tangible sense. It is our coarse antennae trembling blindly as it traces the form of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/but-art-is-not-relative-to-perfection-in-any-tangible-sense-it-is-our/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [“The whole political mess, the universal squalor, the essential pettiness of mankind oppressed him and he’d submerged himself in work and writing and books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/the-whole-political-mess-the-universal-squalor-the-essential/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [“When he looked through the scope it was as if the largest part of him dissolved and what remained was the kernel everything sprang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/when-he-looked-through-the-scope-it-was-as-if-the-largest-part-of-him/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [“Everyone is looking for the answer. They do not want to find the answer, trust me. Unfortunately, the answer will find them. Life—it’s like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/everyone-is-looking-for-the-answer-they-do-not-want-to-find-the/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [Curiosity did not kill the cat all by itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/curiosity-did-not-kill-the-cat-all-by-itself/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) > [THE TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE is myth-making of epic scope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/the-testament-of-tall-eagle-is-myth-making-of-epic-scope/) [Laird Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) [Explore all 36 Laird Barron quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/) ## More Burroughs quotes > [Hollis thought he looked like William Burroughs, minus the bohemian substrate (or perhaps the methadone). Like someone who'd be invited quail shooting with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/hollis-thought-he-looked-like-william-burroughs-minus-the-bohemian/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Did I ever tell you about the man who taught his asshole to talk? His whole abdomen would move up and down, you dig,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-man-who-taught-his-asshole-to-talk-his/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [ \[william\] Burroughs, incidentally, took up the slogan that we are "Here to go", which contradicts the tendency in Eastern mysticism to advocate staying where… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/william-burroughs-incidentally-took-up-the-slogan-that-we-are-here-to/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [“Burroughs ... his very junkhood an accomplishment beyond a million dollars.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/burroughs-his-very-junkhood-an-accomplishment-beyond-a-million-dollars/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [Burroughs is the greatest satirical writer since Jonathan Swift. . . . The net result of Naked Lunch will be to make people shudder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/burroughs-is-the-greatest-satirical-writer-since-jonathan-swift-the/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Burroughs's voice is hard, derisive, inventive, free, funny, serious, poetic, indelibly American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/burroughs-s-voice-is-hard-derisive-inventive-free-funny-serious/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [In 1911, Edgar Rice Burroughs, having failed at everything else, decided to write a novel. He was then in his mid-thirties, married with two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/in-1911-edgar-rice-burroughs-having-failed-at-everything-else-decided/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [ I really think \[William\] Burroughs was onto something here, when he said, "Dreams are a biologic necessity and your lifeline into space." ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-really-think-william-burroughs-was-onto-something-here-when-he-said/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [Cats of all kinds weave in and out of the text; Burroughs has clearly taken to them in a big way in his old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/cats-of-all-kinds-weave-in-and-out-of-the-text-burroughs-has-clearly/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“What's with the serum?" I don't know, but it sounds ominous. We better put a telepathic direction finder on Benway. The man's not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/what-s-with-the-serum-i-don-t-know-but-it-sounds-ominous-we-better/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [Science fiction is a dialogue, a tennis match, in which the Idea is volleyed from one side of the net to the other. Ridiculous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/science-fiction-is-a-dialogue-a-tennis-match-in-which-the-idea-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I feel as though dispossessed from the semblances of some crystalline reality to which I’d grown accustomed, and to some degree, had engaged in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/i-feel-as-though-dispossessed-from-the-semblances-of-some-crystalline/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [People talk about this often in the art world. The press releases have reached a level of absurdity and creativity - creative absurdity -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/people-talk-about-this-often-in-the-art-world-the-press-releases-have/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [As a young child I wanted to be a writer because writers were rich and famous. They lounged around Singapore and Rangoon smoking opium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/as-a-young-child-i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-because-writers-were-rich/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [There is no right or wrong reading of Naked Lunch, though some readings are more common, and thus Burroughs commercial is not the issue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/there-is-no-right-or-wrong-reading-of-naked-lunch-though-some/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) Browse all 59 Burroughs quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Skullcrack City messes with your mind the way William Burroughs or a bellyful of hallucinogens will do. I'm a longtime fan of Johnson. A master of derangement, he's been bringing it for years. This time, though, it's different. He's burst into the clear and is taking seven-league strides across the literary landscape.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laird Barron" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-the-way-william-burroughs-or-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Burroughs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-the-way-william-burroughs-or-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/laird-barron-17739_burroughs_skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-th_3033713.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/laird-barron-17739_burroughs_skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-th_3033713.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/laird-barron-17739_burroughs_skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-th_3033713.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Skullcrack City messes with your mind the way William Burroughs or a bellyful of hallucinogens will do. I'm…” — Laird Barron", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Laird Barron", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-barron/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Skullcrack City messes with your mind...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-the-way-william-burroughs-or-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-barron/skullcrack-city-messes-with-your-mind-the-way-william-burroughs-or-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```