Junkie by burroughs, first edition, signed abebooks. William burroughs the original junkie william burroughs. Dont worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Burroughs junky book cover on 100% preshrunk cotton tee shirt. Color illustrated wraps, 6 38 x 4 14 inches, 149 pp. The story follows a man at odds with american mainstream culture into a quest for spiritual meaning via heroin. A primary figure of the beat generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the. This is the first book i read of william s burroughs, i have to say it was a brilliant read, it lets you into the mind of a junkie and how heshe thinks.
The burroughslike protagonist of the novel, bill lee, seesaws between. Junky william s burroughs with introduction of allen ginsberg. Inscribed by burroughs, once on the title page of junkie. Publication of junkie, burroughss first book, marked one of the opening salvos of the beat generations most prolific periods, with provocative content that pushed the limits of. This study guide consists of approximately 38 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of junky. This novel tells stories of lurid adventures and serious drug abuseall from the junkies point of view. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read.
This is an unnerving tale of a narcotics addict unmoored in new york, tangiers, and, ultimately, a nightmarish wasteland known as interzone. He states he was born 1914 to an established, wealthy. Over the next five years or so he uses drugs, engages in petty crimes and drug peddling, and moves to texas, new orleans, and finally mexico city all the while intermittently kicking. I throughly enjoyed this book and i will read it again. February 5, 1914 august 2, 1997 was an american writer and visual artist. Burroughs is the second book ive read as part of a miniproject of mine to examine the place of. Burroughs did, in fact, start using heroin in 1944 and within a year, he was an addict. Burroughs 1977, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. Burroughs broke into the literary scene with junky sometimes also called junkie, a candid, semiautobiographical account of an unredeemed drug addict. Burroughs was a primary figure of the beat generation and a major postmodernist author whose influence is considered to have affected a range of popular culture as well as literature. See all 12 formats and editions hide other formats and editions.
Junky and william burroughs oblique moral vision books. Burroughs published junky, an irresistible strungout ode to the joys and perversities of drug addiction. After many rejections, burroughs kind of gave up on the idea of seeing this book in print. Junky by william burroughs and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Narcotic agent, the undercover policemans memoir, originally published back. Six years before he published his breakthrough novel, naked lunch 1959, william s.
Burroughs wrote this book much based on his own experience with addiction decades ago, and i think itll forever be potent. Its safe to say that the book wouldnt have seen the light of day if allen ginsberg hadnt taken burroughs under his wing and edited the manuscript. Inscribed and signed by burroughs on the title page of junkie as follows. Price new from used from hardcover, import please retry. Junky william burroughs penguin books covers, book. William leebillis the narrator and protagonist of the novel. Reprinted later with the title junky burroughs preferred spelling, overruled by the original publisher junkie was burroughs first book, published under a pseudonym due to the controversial nature of the subject. It was his first published novel and has come to be considered a seminal text on the lifestyle of heroin addicts in the early 1950s. It is a way of life william burroughs, legendary drug addict, founder member of the beats and author of naked lunch, relates with unflinching realism the addicts life. The book discusses almost every aspect of a junkies. After all, i knew it still had elements of reality in it, from burroughs life as an actual gay heroin addict.
Album the best of william burroughs from giorno poetry systems. Confessions of an unredeemed drug addict is a novel by american beat generation writer william s. Junkie has 0 available edition to buy at half price books marketplace. Kenwood ddx418 manual, key competencies in brief dynamic psychotherapy clinical practice beyond the manual, kidaposs box level 3 pupilaposs book 2nd edition, know about vegetables, konica minolta dimage z3 manual. Burroughs and the cult of rock n roll university of texas press june 2019 28 minutes 4,637 words. The story tells how the main character, william lee, goes from a middleclass existence in the midwest to pushingusing drugs in new york city, from morphine to marijuana to cocaine to mainly heroin. Junkie by william lee book cover, description, publication history. Junk is not, like alcohol or a weed, a means to increased enjoyment of life. The first complete and unexpurgated edition, originally published as junkie. Then, halfway through, i idly read the back cover and discovered that it wasnt an autobiography, like i had thought, but a novel. During those years, burroughs also wrote his first book, junky.
William burroughs book covers jack kerouac book covers. Burroughs reads his first novel, junky open culture. Vojo sindolic, horst spandler, michael stevens, and jeff taylor for the use of their book cover images. Junkie alternately titled junky is a 1953 semiautobiographical novel by william s. Yes it is quite a sad book but it is a book that i favour over many of todays and it is well worth a read. Its a very straightforward, nononsense and notearjerker experience as burroughs writes of lees addictions, faltering friendships, his fleeting meets with people while trying to attain drugs as quickly as possible, at times doing anything for it. High quality william burroughs inspired wall art by independent artists and designers from around t. Burroughs was a beat generation writer known for his startling, nontraditional accounts of drug culture, most famously in the book naked lunch.
Burroughs junkie november 10, 2012 june 16, 2015 freshlyworded junkie by influential beat generation writer william s. If youre a fan of william burroughs work, a complete reading of junkie, by william burroughs himself, has recently appeared online, for free. What an excellent birth year present this would make for someone, maybe even dear old dad for fathers day. It is a candid eyewitness account of times and places that are now long gone, an unvarnished field report from the american postwar underground. High quality william burroughs inspired stationery by independent artists and designers from around. Junkie by influential beat generation writer william s. Burroughs junkie tshirt book, writer, various sizescolours londontshirtcompany 5 out of 5 stars. Confessions of an unredeemed drug addict junky a novel by william lee william s. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new. Anthony burgess on william burroughs, a modernday jonathan swift who is willing to look at hell and report what he sees published. Burroughs junky is edited with an introduction by oliver harris in penguin modern classics.
Some new material, and an introduction by allen ginsberg were added. Naked lunch sometimes the naked lunch is a 1959 novel by american writer william s. In terms of name recognition, naked lunch is a bit like miles davis kind. First edition of burroughs first book, published under the pseudonym william lee, signed by the author on the title page.
Be concerned with doing good work and make the right choices and protect your work. Nov 23, 2012 junky, a semiautobiographical novel by william s. Burroughs first novel, a largely autobiographical account of the constant cycle of drug dependency, cures and relapses, remains the most unflinching, unsentimental account of addiction ever written. Burroughs is the second book ive read as part of a miniproject of mine to examine the place of the. Not only did it come out as a 35cent massmarket twoinone paperback, it promised the confessions of an unredeemed drug addict, and with. Before his 1959 breakthrough, naked lunch, an unknown william s. And if you can build a good name, eventually, that name will be its own currency. Burroughs is the second book ive read as part of a miniproject of mine to examine the place of the heroin junky in literature. February 5, 1914 august 2, 1997 was an american novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer. Publication of junkie, burroughs s first book, marked one of the opening salvos of the beat generations most prolific periods, with provocative content that pushed the limits of. The reader follows the narration of junkie william lee, who takes on various aliases, from the u. Burroughs collection 3 linear feet are held in the manuscript, archives, and rare book library at emory university. In his debut novel, junky, burroughs fictionalized his experiences using and peddling heroin and other drugs in the 1950s into a work that reads like a field report from the underworld of postwar america.
By any estimation the dominant theme of the novel is junk. Burroughs is a bleak take on heroin addicts during the 1940s50s. Naked lunch is one of the most important novels of the 20th century, a book that redefined not just literature but american culture. His first published work, it is semiautobiographical and focuses on burroughs life as a drug user and dealer. Burroughs last words collection, in processing 10 bound volumes and 2 boxes, are held at the kenneth spencer research library. It was his first published novel and has come to be considered a seminal text on the lifestyle of. Burroughs, published initially under the pseudonym william lee in 1953. Get cozy and expand your home library with a large online selection of books at. In 1953, at the height of american conformism and anticommunist hysteria, william s. William leenicknamed billis a thirtyyearold white male living in new york city who begins using morphine and develops an addiction to narcoticsor junk. Burroughs, which tends to happen with certain major works. A pulp paperback published in 1953, under the pen name william lee, it recounts his adventures through underworlds from new. It appears in the 1989 collection interzone and on the 1993 album spare ass annie and other tales.
Confessions of an unredeemed drug addict originally titled junk, later released as junky is a novel by american beat generation writer william s. Junkie alternative title spelled junky is a 1953 semiautobiographical novel by william s. Burroughs both ghastlier and more impressive than many previously thought. Reality televisions got nothing on william burroughs. William burroughs the original junkie books the guardian. Jan 25, 2011 the junkys christmas is a story by william s. Naked lunch is inseparable from its author william s. Burroughs, is a seductive story set at the inception of the hip subculture in america. Confessions of an unredeemed drug addict and authored pseudonymously by william lee burroughs mothers maiden. Junkie mass market paperback january 1, 1953 by william burroughs author 4. Burroughs, published initially under the pseudonym william lee.
Burroughs, quote from junky the conversations had a nightmare flatness, talking dice spilled in the tube metal chairs, human aggregates disintegrating in cosmic inanity, random events in a dying universe where everything is exactly what it appears to be, and no other relation than juxtaposition is possible. Both junkie and narcotic agent have covers of beautiful garishness, featuring 1950s damsels in distress. See all 12 formats and editions hide other formats and. The book may be the only burroughs title many literature buffs can name. The book is structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes. Junk is not, like alcohol or weed, a means to increased enjoyment of life.
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