William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs (February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American novelist, essayist, social critic and spoken word performer. Much of Burroughs' work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, which he often distored using surreal or graphic imagery, experimental structures, and a strong satirical voice. Burroughs stated that he saw all his writing as a single, vast book; indeed, the same characters and themes often reappear intermittently throughout his oeuvre.

Early life

William Seward Burroughs was born to a prominent family in St. Louis, Missouri. His grandfather, also named William Seward Burroughs, founded the Burroughs Adding Machine company, which evolved into the Burroughs Corporation. Burroughs' mother, Laura Lee Burroughs, was the daughter of a distinguished minister whose family claimed to be descendants of Robert E. Lee. Her brother, Ivy Ledbetter Lee, is regarded as the father of modern public relations in the United States and worked before World War II as a representative for the Third Reich.

Related Topics:
St. Louis - Missouri - William Seward Burroughs - Burroughs Corporation - Robert E. Lee - Public relations - World War II - Third Reich

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Burroughs was brought up in comfortable circumstances; his family had servants and gardeners. Burroughs? parents ran an antique and gift shop, first in St. Louis, then in Palm Beach, Florida. They worked hard to maintain a respectable social status. In Burroughs' early fiction, such as Driving Lesson, he makes it clear he was unable, or unwilling, to follow the same path.

Related Topics:
Palm Beach - Florida

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Burroughs may have been molested as a young child by a boyfriend of his English nanny and/or a female nurse. Late in his life he had flashback memories to events which may have been suppressed. Ted Morgan in his biography Literary Outlaw, as well as James Grauerholz, Burroughs' manager, editor and close friend, suggest this is possible.

Related Topics:
Ted Morgan - James Grauerholz

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Reportedly, Burroughs was a petty breaking and entering artist as an adolescent, raiding neighborhood homes to walk around, but not to steal possessions. He was inspired by the memoir You Can't Win, by Jack Black, a former thief and career criminal.

Related Topics:
You Can't Win - Jack Black

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Burroughs attended John Burroughs School in St. Louis, and The Los Alamos Ranch School in New Mexico, but was expelled from the latter because staff had found private journals concerning a budding erotic attachment to another boy. He would keep his sexual orientation concealed well into adulthood.

Related Topics:
John Burroughs School - The Los Alamos Ranch School - New Mexico

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Burroughs graduated from Harvard University in 1936. He summarized his college experience in the prologue to Junkie, "I hated the University and I hated the town it was in. Everything about the place was dead. The University was a fake English setup taken over by the graduates of fake English public schools..."

Related Topics:
Harvard University - 1936

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