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.

Works

Novels, short story collections, and chapbooks

• And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (1945) - with Jack Kerouac. Unpublished, though an excerpt appears in Word Virus.
• Junkie (1953) - (first published by Ace Books under the pen name of William Lee, presented back to back with another title written by a narcotics agent. Later renamed Junky and published under the author's real name. Burroughs' preferred title was Junk) (ISBN 0142003166) - novel
• Naked Lunch (1959) (ISBN 0802132952) (original publication title The Naked Lunch) - novel
• Minutes To Go (1960) (with Bryon Gysin, Sinclair Beilles, Gregory Corso)
• The Exterminator (1960) (with Bryon Gysin)
• The Soft Machine (1961) (ISBN 0802133290) - novel
• The Ticket That Exploded (1962) (ISBN 0802151507) - novel
• Dead Fingers Talk (1963) - novel
• The Yage Letters (1963) (with Allen Ginsberg; republished in the 1990s with a censored section restored)
• Nova Express (1964) (ISBN 0802133304) - novel
• Valentine's Day Reading (1965)
• Roosevelt After Inauguration and Other Atrocities (1965; later republished 1979) - short stories
• Time (1965)
• APO-33 (1966)
• So Who Owns Death TV? (1967)
• The Dead Star (1969)
• The Job (1969) (ISBN 0140118829) (with Daniel Odier)
• The Last Words of Dutch Schultz (1969) (ISBN 1559702117)
• Jack Kerouac (1970) (with Claude Pelieu)
• "Ali's Smile" (1971)
• The Wild Boys (1971) (ISBN 0802133312) - novel
• Electronic Revolution (1971)
• Bryon Gysin Let the Mice In (1973) (with Gysin)
• Exterminator! (1973) (ISBN 0140050035) (a different book than the 1960 volume) - short stories
• White Subway (1973)
• Mayfair Academy Series More or Less (1973)
• Port of Saints (1973) (ISBN 0912652640) - novel
• The Book of Breething (1974)
• Sidetripping (1975) (with Charles Gatewood)
• Snack (1975)
• Cobble Stone Gardens (1976)
• The Retreat Diaries (1976)
• Colloque de Tangier (1976) (with Bryon Gysin)
• Letters to Allen Ginsberg 1953-1957 (1976)
• The Third Mind (1977) (with Gysin; first English printing in 1978)
• Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology (1978)
• Colloque de Tangier Vol. 2 (1979) (with Bryon Gysin, Gérard-Georges Lemaire)
• Blade Runner, A Movie (1979) - not to be confused with the science fiction film of the same title, although director Ridley Scott did obtain the rights to use Burroughs' title for his film. Some editions use the variant spelling Bladerunner. (See this website for the story on how Scott came upon this title.)
• "Dr. Benway" (1979)
• "Ah Pook is Here!" (1979)
• Streets of Chance (1981)
• Early Routines (1981)
• Cities of the Red Night (1981) (ISBN 0030539765) - novel
• Ah Pook is Here, Nova Express, Cities of the Red Night (1981) (ISBN 0312278462)
• "Sinki's Sauna" (1982)
• The Place of Dead Roads (1983) (ISBN 0312278659) - novel
• "Ruski" (1984)
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1984)
• The Burroughs File (1984)
• The Adding Machine: Collected Essays (1985) (ISBN 1559702109)
• Queer (1985) (ISBN 0140083898) (originally intended to be published after Junkie but unreleased until 1985) - novel
• The Cat Inside (1986) (with Bryon Gysin) - novella
• The Western Lands (1987) (ISBN 0140094563) - novel
• The Whole Tamale (c.1987-88)
• Interzone (1987) (ISBN 0140094512) - short stories - a collection of early and unpublished works
• Apocalypse (1988) (with Keith Haring)
• Tornado Alley (1989) - short stories
• Uncommon Quotes Vol. 1 (1989)
• Ghost of Chance (1991; later reprinted 1997) (ISBN 1852424575) - novella
• "Seven Deadly Sins" (1992)
• Paper Cloud; Thick Pages (1992)
• Selected Letters (1993)
• ' (1995) (ISBN 0140094547) - novel
• Word Virus : The William Burroughs Reader (1998) (ISBN 0006552145)
• Burroughs Live : The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997 (2000) (ISBN 1584350105)
• ' (2000) (ISBN 0802137784)

Many of Burroughs' works were later republished with revisions made by the author, and/or censored material restored. Both Junkie/Junky and Naked Lunch were published in "restored" editions following Burroughs' death.

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Burroughs' son, William S. Burroughs Jr., also wrote two novels: Speed and Kentucky Ham. These books are often erroneously credited to his father.

Related Topics:
William S. Burroughs Jr. - Speed - Kentucky Ham

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Recordings and film (partial list)

• Call Me Burroughs (1965) - The English Bookshop, Paris (reissued in 1995 by Rhino Word Beat)
• Nothing Here Now But The Recordings (1981) - LP Industrial Records IR0016
• Dead City Radio (1990) - Island Records
• Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales (1993) - Island Records (features the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy)
• The Priest They Called Him (1995) - Burroughs' voice and Kurt Cobain playing guitar
• Is Everybody In? (track 11 of Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors, 2000) - Burroughs reads poetry written by Jim Morrison over music provided by The Doors.
• Material: Seven Souls. An album recorded with Bill Laswell.

Burroughs also participated on numerous album releases by Giorno Poetry Systems, including The Nova Convention and You're the Guy I Want to Spend My Money With (with John Giorno and Laurie Anderson). He was also featured doing a spoken word piece entitled "Sharkey's Night," on the Laurie Anderson album Mister Heartbreak. Burroughs also provided vocal samples for the soundtrack of Anderson's 1986 concert film, Home of the Brave and made a cameo appearance in the movie.

Related Topics:
John Giorno - Laurie Anderson - 1986 - Home of the Brave

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see Web link - Hyperreal.org

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Burroughs appeared in a number of cameo roles in various films and videos, such as Wax: Or Discovery of Television among the Bees, 1991, where he plays a beekeeper, in an elliptic story about the first Gulf War; and Decoder (1984) by Klaus Maeck. Rundown at Internet Movie Database. He also made a number of short films in the 1960s based upon his works, directed by Anthony Balch. Near the end of his life, recordings of Burroughs reading his short stories "A Junky's Christmas" and "Ah Pook is Here" were used to great effect on the soundtracks of two highly acclaimed animated film adaptations of the pieces.

Related Topics:
Gulf War - 1960s - Anthony Balch

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Burroughs also featured in the 1997 music video Last Night on Earth by U2. He appears at the end of the video pushing a shopping trolley with a large spotlight positioned inside it. The video ends with a close up of Burrough's eyes. Burroughs' scenes were filmed only a few weeks before his death.

Related Topics:
1997 - Last Night on Earth - U2

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