William S. Burroughs  

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 +| style="text-align: left;" | "'[[Nihilism]], unrelieved [[despair]] and [[negation]], [[misanthropy]], [[pessimism]]' - very much the same set of clichés that greeted Louis-Ferdinand Celine's ''[[Journey to the End of the Night]]'', which to my mind is a very funny book, in a picaresque tradition stretching back to [[Petronius]] and to ''[[The Unfortunate Traveller]]'' by [[Thomas Nashe]]. I have always seen my own work in the light of the picaresque - a series of adventures and misadventures, horrific and comic, encountered by an [[antihero]]." --[[William S. Burroughs]], ''William S. Burroughs At the Front: Critical Reception, 1959 - 1989''
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'''William Burroughs''' ([[February 5]] [[1914]] - [[August 2]], [[1997]]), also known as '''William S. Burroughs''', was an [[American novelist]], [[essayist]], [[social critic]], [[painter]] and [[spoken word]] performer. Much of Burroughs' work is [[semi-autobiographical]], drawn from his [[experience]]s as an [[heroin addict]], a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life. He was a primary member of the [[Beat Generation]], an [[avant-garde]] author who affected [[popular culture]] as well as [[literature]]. '''William Burroughs''' ([[February 5]] [[1914]] - [[August 2]], [[1997]]), also known as '''William S. Burroughs''', was an [[American novelist]], [[essayist]], [[social critic]], [[painter]] and [[spoken word]] performer. Much of Burroughs' work is [[semi-autobiographical]], drawn from his [[experience]]s as an [[heroin addict]], a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life. He was a primary member of the [[Beat Generation]], an [[avant-garde]] author who affected [[popular culture]] as well as [[literature]].

Revision as of 13:26, 31 December 2013

"'Nihilism, unrelieved despair and negation, misanthropy, pessimism' - very much the same set of clichés that greeted Louis-Ferdinand Celine's Journey to the End of the Night, which to my mind is a very funny book, in a picaresque tradition stretching back to Petronius and to The Unfortunate Traveller by Thomas Nashe. I have always seen my own work in the light of the picaresque - a series of adventures and misadventures, horrific and comic, encountered by an antihero." --William S. Burroughs, William S. Burroughs At the Front: Critical Reception, 1959 - 1989

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William Burroughs (February 5 1914 - August 2, 1997), also known as William S. Burroughs, was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer. Much of Burroughs' work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an heroin addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life. He was a primary member of the Beat Generation, an avant-garde author who affected popular culture as well as literature.

Contents

Bibliography

Novels and other long fiction

Non-fiction

Stories and novellas

Collections

Collaborations

Film collaborations

The Final Academy - a 1982 tour in Britain, organized by David Dawson, Roger Ely and Genesis P-Orridge. The project was based on, featuring works of and was inspired by William S Burroughs. A DVD, 'The Final Academy Documents" is a DVD of edited highlights from the tour, including Burroughs' public appearance in 1982 and reading from his work at Manchester's infamous The Haçienda, a performance by John Giorno and includes the experimental film collaborations with Anthony Balch, Brion Gysin, and others - ‘Towers Open Fire' and ‘Ghosts at No. 9'. Further related information on these films mentioned above and other works of Burroughs' can be found here and here and also here on 3 various UbuWeb external links.

This Cherry Red Records DVD is from 2002 here is a link to this DVDs info page

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's death. An expanded edition of Yage Letters entitled Yage Letters Redux was published in April 2006.

Burroughs also played a cameo part in the motion picture Drugstore Cowboy. He also collaborated on the documentary Words of Advice: William S. Burroughs On the Road released in 2007.

Recordings (partial list)

Band names

Burroughs's work has inspired the name of several musical groups over the years. The most widely known of these is Steely Dan, a group named after a dildo in Naked Lunch. Also from Naked Lunch came the name The Mugwumps. The band Soft Machine took its name from the Burroughs novel of the same name, while alt-country band Clem Snide is named for a Burroughs character. The band The Soft Boys took its name from Burroughs' novels The Soft Machine and The Wild Boys. Proto-punk band Dead Fingers Talk from Hull, England, took their name from the novel of the same name, and their only album was titled Storm the Reality Studios, after a quote from Nova Express.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "William S. Burroughs" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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