The Letters of William S. Burroughs, 1945-1959
Edited and with an Introduction by Oliver Harris
An intimate chronicle of the tumultuous life and literary transformation
of one of America's most daring writers.
Eminence grise of the international avant garde, dark prophet and
blackest of satirists, William S. Burroughs has had a range of influence
rivaled by few living writers. This volume of his correspondence vividly
documents the personal and cultural history through which Burroughs
developed, revealing clues to illuminate his life and keys to open up his
texts. More than that, it shows how letter-writing was itself integral to
his life and to his fiction-making.
Beginning as surprisingly formal notes from the road to his friends Allen
Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, the letters gradually deepen in substance and
style. Then, in Tangier, comes a dramatic shift in voice and vision and
the explosive, distinctive letters that will become <Naked Lunch.>
Letters were lifelines for Burroughs the outcast, and works-in-progress
for Burroughs the writer, and they track his turbulent journey across two
decades and three continents.
"A handsome volume....Readers will find this new volume of letters an
excellent troduction to Burroughs' early work."
-The Washington Post Book World
"Sheds light on both the personal demons and lacerating misanthropy that
inspired Burroughs' brilliant literary highjinks." -Entertainment
Weekly
William S. Burroughs is the author of numerous books, including <The Cat
Inside> (Viking). He is a member of the American Academy and Institute of
Arts and Letters and lives in Lawrence, Kansas.
Oliver Harris gained a Double First in English at Christ Church, Oxford,
and wrote his doctoral dissertation on William S. Burroughs. He is
currently a lecturer in American Literature at the University of Keele
and lives in Oxfordshire, England.
June
Biography
5H x 8H 512 pp.
0-14-009452-0 $11.95
Also available:
Exterminator 0-14-005003-5 $10.00
Interzone 0-14-009451-2 $11.00
The Job 0-14-011882-9 $11.00
Junky 0-14-004351-9 $10.00
Queer 0-14-008389-8 $10.00
The Western Lands 0-14-009456-3 $11.00
