Joan Vollmer  

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 +'''Joan Vollmer''' (February 4, 1923 – September 6, 1951<ref>Carmona, Christopher. "The Girl Who Kissed the Gun and the Bullet That Ate Her: The Life of Joan Vollmer", [http://www.beatscene.net/ Beat Scene] #58 (Spring 2009), p. 4</ref>) was the most prominent female member of the early [[Beat Generation]] circle. While a student at [[Barnard College]], she became the roommate of [[Edie Parker]] (later married to [[Jack Kerouac]]). Their apartment became a gathering place for the Beats during the 1940s, where Vollmer was often at the center of marathon, all night discussions. In 1946, she began a relationship with [[William S. Burroughs]], later becoming his [[common-law wife]]. In 1951, Burroughs killed Vollmer by shooting her in the head in what was apparently a drunken attempt at playing [[William Tell]].
-'''''Queer''''' is the title of an early [[short novel]] (written 1951&ndash;1953, published 1985) by [[William S. Burroughs]]. It is partially a sequel to his earlier novel, ''[[Junkie (novel)|Junkie]]''. That novel ends with the stated ambition of finding the ultimate ‘high’- a drug called [[Yage]]. ''Queer'', although not totally devoted to that quest, does include a trip to South America looking for the substance.  
-The novel is noteworthy in Burroughs' development as a writer, for it has a detached cinematic quality that is absent from his later novels. However, it also contains the first seeds of ‘routines’- the long wild-eyed [[monologues]] that would gush forth in ''Naked Lunch'' and later fiction- and mark Burroughs’ work as radically [[satirical]]. In ''Queer'', Lee tries to attract the attention of Allerton with long barstool eruptions. +==Film==
 +The film [[Beat]] (2000) is a biographical account of the relationship between Joan Vollmer Burroughs and William S. Burroughs. Joan Vollmer Burroughs is portrayed by [[Courtney Love]] and William S. Burroughs by [[Kiefer Sutherland]]. There are brief appearances by Daniel Martinez as Jack Kerouac, Ron Livingston as Allen Ginsberg and Norman Reedus as Lucien Carr. The film centres on the killing of Joan Vollmer Burroughs, on 6 September 1951, by her husband, William S. Burroughs. It also portrays Lucien Carr's plea of guilty to the first-degree manslaughter, on 13 August 1944, of David Kammerer, played by Kyle Secor, for which he served two years of a one-to-twenty-year sentence in the Elmira Correctional Facility in Upstate New York.
-==Plot summary==+==Sources==
 +*[[Ted Morgan (writer)|Ted Morgan]], ''Literary Outlaw, the Life and Times of William S. Burroughs'' (1988, Henry Holt, ISBN 0-380-70882-5)
 +*[[Jack Kerouac]], ''The Vanity of Duluoz'' (1967–1968, Coward-McCann, ISBN 0-14-023639-2)
 +* Collins, Ronald & Skover, David, ''Mania: The Story of the Outraged & Outrageous Lives that Launched a Cultural Revolution'' (Top-Five Books, March 2013)
-The novel begins with the introduction of a new character in Burroughs' writing - 'Lee', who begins by recounting his life in Mexico City among an American [[expatriate]] crowd of college students and bar owners surviving on part-time jobs and [[GI Bill]] benefits. The novel is distinct from ''[[Junkie (novel)|Junkie]]'', since it is written in [[Third-person narrative|third-person]] and Burroughs himself later commented in the "Introduction" published in 1985, that it represents him off [[heroin]], whereas in ''Junkie'', his narrator was emotionally and psychologically ‘protected’ by his addiction to heroin. Thus the story is confessional, and less of a plot driven commentary on the characters found in the urban underclass of drug addiction. Burroughs’ Lee is very self-conscious, insecure, and driven to pursue a young man named ‘Allerton’. Allerton is based on a then 21-year-old, Adelbert Lewis Marker (1930-1998), a recently discharged American Navy serviceman from Jacksonville, Florida who befriended Burroughs in Mexico City. 
- 
-==Literary significance & criticism== 
-''Queer'' was originally written as an extension of ''Junkie'', which had been judged too short and uninteresting for publication. However Burroughs lost interest in the manuscript, and chose not to return to it even when ''Junkie'' was accepted. It was doubtful whether much of the content could be published in the USA at that time, since the heavy [[homosexual]] content and theme could be held as [[obscene]]. [[Jack Kerouac]] admired the work and thought it would appeal to "east coast homosexual literary critics". It was eventually published in 1985 with a new Introduction, when Burroughs's literary agent [[Andrew Wylie (literary agent)|Andrew Wylie]] secured him a lucrative publishing contract for future novels with Viking. Reportedly, he had not read the manuscript in thirty years because of the emotional trauma it caused him. Much of it was composed while Burroughs was awaiting trial for the accidental homicide of his common-law wife [[Joan Vollmer]].  
- 
-Despite his frequent and uncompromising writings on [[homosexuality]], Burroughs has not been viewed as a gay author by many readers. In the words of [[Jamie Russell]] he has "been totally excluded from the 'queer canon'" According to Russell, Burroughs's life and writing suggests a gay subjectivity which has been deeply troubling to many in the gay community. 
- 
-==Film, TV or theatrical adaptations== 
-An [[Erling Wold]] opera of the same title, based on the novel, premiered in the U.S. in 2001. 
- 
-[[Steve Buscemi]] is set to direct a film adaption of the book. The screenplay was written by [[Oren Moverman]], director and writer of ''[[The Messenger (2009 film)|The Messenger]]''. Steve led the first reading of ''Queer'' at the [[Sarasota Film Festival]] with [[Stanley Tucci]], [[Ben Foster (actor)|Ben Foster]], [[John Ventimiglia]], and Lisa Joyce. 
- 
- 
-==Sources used== 
-* Jamie Russell: ''Queer Burroughs.'' Palgrave MacMillan, 2001, ISBN 0-312-23923-8 
-*[[Ted Morgan (writer)|Ted Morgan]]: ''Literary Outlaw.'' New York: Avon, 1988 
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Joan Vollmer (February 4, 1923 – September 6, 1951<ref>Carmona, Christopher. "The Girl Who Kissed the Gun and the Bullet That Ate Her: The Life of Joan Vollmer", Beat Scene #58 (Spring 2009), p. 4</ref>) was the most prominent female member of the early Beat Generation circle. While a student at Barnard College, she became the roommate of Edie Parker (later married to Jack Kerouac). Their apartment became a gathering place for the Beats during the 1940s, where Vollmer was often at the center of marathon, all night discussions. In 1946, she began a relationship with William S. Burroughs, later becoming his common-law wife. In 1951, Burroughs killed Vollmer by shooting her in the head in what was apparently a drunken attempt at playing William Tell.


Film

The film Beat (2000) is a biographical account of the relationship between Joan Vollmer Burroughs and William S. Burroughs. Joan Vollmer Burroughs is portrayed by Courtney Love and William S. Burroughs by Kiefer Sutherland. There are brief appearances by Daniel Martinez as Jack Kerouac, Ron Livingston as Allen Ginsberg and Norman Reedus as Lucien Carr. The film centres on the killing of Joan Vollmer Burroughs, on 6 September 1951, by her husband, William S. Burroughs. It also portrays Lucien Carr's plea of guilty to the first-degree manslaughter, on 13 August 1944, of David Kammerer, played by Kyle Secor, for which he served two years of a one-to-twenty-year sentence in the Elmira Correctional Facility in Upstate New York.

Sources

  • Ted Morgan, Literary Outlaw, the Life and Times of William S. Burroughs (1988, Henry Holt, ISBN 0-380-70882-5)
  • Jack Kerouac, The Vanity of Duluoz (1967–1968, Coward-McCann, ISBN 0-14-023639-2)
  • Collins, Ronald & Skover, David, Mania: The Story of the Outraged & Outrageous Lives that Launched a Cultural Revolution (Top-Five Books, March 2013)





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