A must have for Burroughs fans. Burroughs & Sonic Youth fans alike will enjoy Lee Renaldos interview with Burroughs & Great photos from a visit with Bill at Home in Lawrence , Kansas. Put on the Dead City Radio Cd by William S. Burroughs as you flip thru the pages of this toad calling compendium and as you hit the last page replay Bills Thanksgiving Prayer.

Never mind the slew of literary garble about his genius, nor the sickening drivel of bickering fools digging for gossip: now good'ole bill can be read on his own, as he was when these letters were first written, obviously. This might just be the best collection yet of his letters...

This is still the only really great book on overhead reconnaissance, and I have been surprised and disappointed to see it overlooked by the mainstream intelligence academics. Contains useful early history on why we got into technical collection (our human spies kept getting killed on arrival as we took the easy route of recruiting from émigré organizations already penetrated by the KGB and GRU). Ends with a passing reference to commercial imagery, a topic that merits its own book.

Here's a little something about Guilty of Everything, the autobiography of the legendary Herbert E. Huncke ... . The full manuscript of Guilty of Everthing kicked about for 2 decades. It was once known as his "confessions." Raymond Foye of Hanuman Books published this first installment of Guilty in 1987 with the assistance of co-publisher Francesco Clemente in a small run, a now scarce edition. In 1988 Huncke met young Paragon House editor Don Kennison in New York City who took on the manuscript and into it breathed new life, preparing and shaping it with Mr. Huncke into the 1990 publication by Paragon. This event secured Herbert Huncke's place in the Beat bibliography and brought him steady fame in the last years of his life. Although this remarkable book had a brief success and two hardcover printings, it never made paperback and is now out-of-print. There are slight text variations from the excerpt done by Hanuman, so both editions are absolutely essential for both collector and reader.

Mindfield is an expansive retrospective of poems by one Gregorio Anuzio Corso. This guy is one of the original Beats. He was part of the original seven of Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs, Huncke, Holmes, Cassidy and Corso. Corso wrote an excellent collection called Gasoline which is generously represented in this book. This volume also includes poems from Corsos books for New Directions. Poems like Bomb and Marriage are Beat classics. Long Live Man should be retitled Long Live Corso! Corso never attained the level of noteriety of Ginsberg, Kerouac or Burroughs but there is work in this collection that will really make you wonder why. Shorter poems like Italian Extravaganza and I Am 25 really hit the spot. (amazingly Corso can still pull off I Am 25 at readings even as he reaches the age of 70) This is American poetry by an American original. It would be great to see Corso garner the recognizion that he has so long deserved.

"Ports of Entry: William S. Burroughs and the Arts" is an
amazing book about an amazing man,
that provides a wonderful insight into genius. The bulk
of the book being dedicated to the art of William S.
Burroughs (yes, he wasn't just a literary giant). If you
appreciate work outside the bounds of the "common", everyday
junk, this is the book for you! Inspiring and breath-taking,
a *DEFINITE* must own!

It's amazing that it's taken this many years for someone to actually consider about Burroughs as a gay writer. All those Wild Boys are finally talked about as gay heroes in this excellent book. Jamie Russell made me return to the novels with new eyes. Of course Naked Lunch is about power and sex, of course the Wild Boys want to create a world without women. . . This book is a must-read for all Burroughs fans. Absolutely fantastic!!

Three revolutionaries in one book: William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Throbbing Gristle(Genesis P. Orridge). This book will change the way you look at society and language. Burroughs' piece, "The Revised Boy Scout Manual" is groundbreaking. Gysin is interviewed about his painting, writing, and time in Morocco. P. Orridge talks about music and magick. YOU NEED THIS BOOK!

1) Authoritative: Both editors are renowned Burroughs scholars
2) Well-Represented: Most of the prominent Burroughs critics and scholars are represented (Alan Ansen, Ihab Hassan, Tony Tanner, Cary Nelson, Eric Mottram, Jennie Skerl, Robin Lydenberg, etc. Note: Due to chronology, Tim Murphy had yet to publish his dissertation on Burroughs)
3) Well-Organized: The text is organized by decades so one may gain an overview of Burroughs's reception throughout the past fifty years
4) Just: Both negative and positive criticism are included
5) Complete: The text begins with Burroughs's earliest works and finishes with his artwork

"Junky" is a look at William S. Burrough's heroin addiction. Its a simple but powerful book that you should read if you want a raw un-bias look at drug addiction. Burroughs basically states to the reader that heroin addiction is not a "kick" but a way of life. This book neither condemns nor gloriufes the junkie or its drug. I won't say "Read this book to see why drugs are bad" but If you are thinking of the choice or want to know more about the real facts you should read this book. I actually learn alot of facts that I could use If I were ever in a bad situation. This book is much more educational than all the D.A.R.E. rubbish in school that just look at drugs in a light tone therefore giving kids nothing to fear. I can't say drugs are bad or good because its up to the personal indiviual to choose for himself. Burroghs traps the reader into a world of madness and no sleep and forces the reader to look at what he doesn't want to. However I gave this star one less because I thought the ending was weak and flat. However this still is a great book to read( and its short)but make sure you also read "The Naked Lunch".

Little of the sprawling, stream-of-conscious style that would define William S. Burroughs's later work is found in his superb first novel, Junky. The narrative is straightforward, grim and dark. No spice is necessary is to intensify the subject matter. Junky is the story of Bill Lee, an aimless drifter who lets opiates or "junk" take control of his life. "You become a narcotics addict because you do not have any strong motivations in any other direction," Burroughs explains in the prologue, "Junk wins by default." It is upon that idea that Junky progresses. Little about how the main character feels or thinks is discussed, but information about the effect of junk, how it is peddled, how cure programs work and how junkies form subcultures in inner cities is revealed in great detail and that is Burroughs's masterminding. Junk has taken control and Lee's being slowly becomes a mere vehicle for his addiction. It becomes the main character. The effect is one of harrowing sadness for the reader and one of fascination for those of us with an interest in narcotics addiction. Junky is less a book I would recommend to fans of beatnik or other experimental literature and more of a novel I would highly endorse for readers who enjoy works, which are highly pungent and affecting.

While William Burroughs is best known for NAKED LUNCH, a brilliant novel about the hallucinations of a heroin addict, those unfamiliar with his work might want to start with something that is a little bit more coherent. For the uninitiated, JUNKY is as great a place to start as any.

The book is essentially a series of events in the life of a junkie, with only the bare remnants of a plot to hold it all together. Such as it is, the book follows the life of Bill Lee as he struggles to maintain his composure (and his constant supply of narcotics) in New York City and, eventually, Mexico. Those familiar with David Cronenberg's fantastic cinematic adaptation of NAKED LUNCH will find that his movie takes Burroughs' whacked-out conventions and hallucinations, and applies them to the basic outline of this novel. Unlike Burroughs' NAKED LUNCH, JUNKY is written in a way that's easy to understand, although the book sometimes slips into the nightmarish images and situations that populate much of Burroughs' more surreal works. Throughout the book, Bill Lee constantly slips in and out of drug addiction, all the while offering the reader such helpful tips as the proper way to shoot heroin. Although the book doesn't glorify the use of narcotics, Burroughs thankfully never comes across as being preachy. He simply creates a vivid and realistic portrait of what it means to be a junkie, all in the inimitable Burroughs style! In addition to all of the drug use, the book also explores the many bizarre practices that Bill Lee indulges himself in, such as a particularly humorous account of pick-pocketing unsuspecting citizens in the subway!

Although the language that Burroughs uses is dated by today's standards, the book still holds up as an endlessly fascinating account of drug addiction. The novel even ends with a glossary of terms that Burroughs picked up from hanging out with young beatniks. If there was ever any author that accurately personified the term "hip", it was William Burroughs!