William S. Burroughs

226 Pages·2010·1.186 MB·English

by  Phil Baker

William S.
Burroughs
PhilBaker

William S. Burroughs
TitlesintheseriesCriticalLivespresenttheworkofleadingculturalfigures
ofthemodernperiod.Eachbookexploresthelifeoftheartist,writer,
philosopherorarchitectinquestionandrelatesittotheirmajorworks.
Inthesameseries
JeanGenet OctavioPaz
StephenBarber NickCaistor
MichelFoucault WalterBenjamin
DavidMacey EstherLeslie
PabloPicasso CharlesBaudelaire
MaryAnnCaws RosemaryLloyd
FranzKafka JeanCocteau
SanderL.Gilman JamesS.Williams
GuyDebord SergeiEisenstein
AndyMerrifield MikeO’Mahony
MarcelDuchamp SalvadorDalí
CarolineCros MaryAnnCaws
JamesJoyce SimonedeBeauvoir
AndrewGibson UrsulaTidd
FrankLloydWright EdgarAllanPoe
RobertMcCarter KevinJ.Hayes
Jean-PaulSartre SamuelBeckett
AndrewLeak AndrewGibson
NoamChomsky PabloNeruda
WolfgangB.Sperlich DominicMoran
JorgeLuisBorges VladimirNabokov
JasonWilson BarbaraWyllie
ErikSatie ConstantinBrancusi
MaryE.Davis SandaMiller
GeorgesBataille GertrudeStein
StuartKendall LucyDaniel
LudwigWittgenstein
EdwardKanterian
William S. Burroughs
Phil Baker
reaktion books
PublishedbyReaktionBooksLtd
33GreatSuttonStreet
Londonec1v0dx,uk
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
Firstpublished2010
Copyright©PhilBaker2010
Allrightsreserved
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,
ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,
photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorpermission
ofthepublishers.
PrintedandboundinGreatBritain
byCromwellPressGroup,Trowbridge,Wiltshire
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Baker,Phil,1961–
WilliamS.Burroughs.–(Criticallives)
1.Burroughs,WilliamS.,1914–1997.
2.Authors,American–20thcentury–Biography.
3.Beatgeneration.
I.Title II.Series
813.5’4-dc22
isbn9781861896636
Contents
1 StLouisBlues 7
2 TheHiddenAntagonist 21
3 NewYork,NewYork 34
4 GoSouth,YoungMan 50
5 ASlipoftheGun 64
6 TangierandNakedLunch 85
7 Paris:Cut-upsattheBeatHotel 104
8 Burroughs1960–65:UndesirableAlien 132
9 SwingingLondon,1966–73 155
10 HoldingtheBunker 171
11 Kansas1981–97:AdiósMuchachos 181
References 199
SelectBibliography 218
Acknowledgements 223
PhotoAcknowledgements 224
No digital rights
Haunted:apreoccupiedBurroughsinDukeStreet,London,photographedby
JimPennington,1972.
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St Louis Blues
LookingbackonchildhoodinhisautobiographicalnovelJunky,
Burroughswrotethathecouldputdown‘oneofthosenostalgic
routines’withtheoldGermandoctornextdoor,theratsinthe
backyard,andhispettoadthatlivedbythepond.Butinstead,he
says,hisearliestmemoriesweremarkedbyanxiety:fearofthedark,
fearofbeingalone,fearofnightmareswherea‘supernaturalhorror’
seemedalwaysonthevergeoftakingshapeandbreakingthrough
intowakinglife.Itwasthroughthesenightmaresthathewasalready
attractedasachild–atleastwithinhisowntelling,hispersonalmyth
–totheideaofopium.Hearingamaidtalkaboutit,andhowsmoking
itbroughtsweetdreams,hesaid‘IwillsmokeopiumwhenIgrowup.’1
WilliamSewardBurroughsiiwasbornon5February1914at
4664BerlinAvenue,StLouis,Missouri,apleasant,tree-linedroad
whichchangeditsnametoPershingAvenueduringtheFirstWorld
War.Itwasathree-storeybrickhousewithalargegardenanda
pondattheback,wellsuitedtopeoplelikeMortimerandLauraLee
Burroughs;peoplewithmiddle-classtasteswhowerecomfortably
offbutnotwealthy.YoungWilliamwasnamedafterhisgrandfather,
theWilliamSewardBurroughswhoinventedthefamousBurroughs
addingmachine.Hehadrescuedtheprojectfrominitialdisaster,
whenitwasfoundthatthemachinesgavedifferentfiguresdepend-
ingonhowhardthehandlewaspulled.Thebankssentthemback
andBurroughsfacedruin,butthenhediscoveredthepullcould
beregulatedbyahydraulicoildevice,andthemachinewasin
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businessagain.AshisnamesakewroteinNakedLunch:‘nomatter
howyoujerkthehandleresultisalwaysthesameforgiven
co-ordinates.Gotmytrainingearly...wouldn’tyou?’2
Onhismother’ssideBillwasdescendedfromastaunch
SouthernMethodistpreacher,JamesWidemanLeefromGeorgia,
andperhapsmoredistantlyrelatedtoConfederateGeneralRobert
E.Lee(awidespreadclaimamongSouthernersnamedLee).Laura
Lee’sbrotherIvyupdatedthefamily’srhetoricalbackgroundasa
pioneerinthenascentartofPublicRelations.Knownas‘Poison
Ivy’Lee,hewasatthetopofhisprofession,withaclientlistthat
includedtheRockefellers.Inthe1930s,igFarben–theGerman
firmnowrememberedformanufacturingZyklonB,thegasused
intheHolocaust–paidhimtoimproveHitler’simageinAmerica.
Anotheruncle,HoraceBurroughs,becameamorphineaddict.
Hewasoneofmany,backintheyearsofAmerica’s‘DarkParadise’3
oflegalopiates,whichonlycametoanendintheyearBillwas
born,withthe1914HarrisonNarcoticsAct.‘Hasanyoneconsidered
thesimplefact,’Burroughsaskedinaninterview,‘thatdrugswere
legalinAmericauntilsomewherearound1914?Youcouldbuy
morphine,heroin,cocaine,allsortsoftinctures,extractsof
cannabis...Goodformanandbeast...Yessir,thegoodold
days...Theydon’tevenliketoadmitthe19thcenturyexisted,
thattherewasatimewhendrugscouldbesoldinAmerica.’4
HoraceBurroughskilledhimselfin1915attheageof29.
GrandfatherBurroughsoverworked,drankhard,anddied
fromtbinhisearlyforties,leavinghisbusinesspartnerJoe
Boyertomakeafortuneandchangethecompanynamefrom
theAmericanArithmometerCompanytotheBurroughsAdding
MachineCompany.TheBurroughsfamilywerenotasrichas
theyaresometimessaidtohavebeen,andalthoughMortimer
BurroughssoldhisstockshortlybeforetheWallStreetCrash,it
wasonlyworth$200,000.MortimerBurroughsranaplate-glass
business,thenwentintolandscapegardening,andfinallyhe
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