William S. Burroughs

[7/4]

So...William S. Burroughs. Whatta ya all think?

[seeline]

To be really honest.... I think he became famous mainly because of the company he kept.

[7/4]

To be really honest.... I think he became famous mainly because of the company he kept.

Laurie Anderson?

[Chuck Nessa]

I thought he always basked in the glow of the familial machines.

[7/4]

I think the legal issues surrounding Naked Lunch might have done a bit for his reputation. He can be pretty funny. He can also be unreadable.

.

[7/4]

I thought he always basked in the glow of the familial machines.

I was under the impression that there wasn't much money left for him.

.

[seeline]

I'm no fan of the Beats, either - though Ginsberg and Kerouac had a lot of appeal for many of the guys I went to school with.

Kerouac's last interview (at least, I believe it was his last) was broadcast on Dick Cavett's talk show here in the US. He was very drunk, and it was hard to watch him, as he couldn't answer questions in a rational way.

My guess is that some of the Beats were popular with white middle-class kids, but that they've never had much appeal outside those circles. (Like many of the writers and musicians who were idolized by my generation.)

Edited April 1, 2008 by seeline

[Chuck Nessa]

I thought he always basked in the glow of the familial machines.

I was under the impression that there wasn't much money left for him.

.

Not after he started writing that "stuff". Smack done him in as far as they were concerned.

[Chuck Nessa]

Or did you mean some folks in Spain (sorry, meant Andorra) were producing the machines by then?

[seeline]

I think you could put him in the Lord Byron category - "mad, bad and dangerous to know" - in general, but... Hubert Selby Jr.was just as notorious for Last Exit to Brooklyn, Norman Mailer was notorious for (in large part) his public behavior when drunk (like hitting Gore Vidal), and...

Celebrities, all of them. I've never understood the cachet of heroin addiction, myself.

Edited April 1, 2008 by seeline

[7/4]

Or did you mean some folks in Spain (sorry, meant Andorra) were producing the machines by then?

I seem to remember he said that his family signed all the money away.

[Chuck Nessa]

Or did you mean some folks in Spain (sorry, meant Andorra) were producing the machines by then?

I seem to remember he said that his family signed all the money away.

If that's really the case, how did he make a living? Was he a greeter at Wal-Mart?

[7/4]

Or did you mean some folks in Spain (sorry, meant Andorra) were producing the machines by then?

I seem to remember he said that his family signed all the money away.

If that's really the case, how did he make a living? Was he a greeter at Wal-Mart?

Dang if I know.

[seeline]

per his Wiki bio., he was not exactly well-to-do.

[7/4]

per his Wiki bio., he was not exactly well-to-do.

We also learn this:

In 1972, Burroughs and Southern unsuccessfully attempted to adapt Naked Lunch for the screen in conjunction with American game show producer Chuck Barris.

This makes perfect sense, Barris claims to be a CIA operative.

[seeline]

Only in Tinseltown!

[7/4]

...Wild Bill was also a Scientologist for a while.

.

[David Gitin]

...and an exterminator

[marcello]

For the life of me, I couild never finish a Burroughs book.

Edited April 2, 2008 by marcello

[rostasi]

Ol' Bill is often around these parts in some fashion.

Just watching Thee Films on Monday of last week

and Junky/Junkie crops up in sound from time-to-time.

In '74, I desperately wanted to attend Naropa

after high school, to get more from the Buddha Beats

but even tho my mom was supportive of the idea,

in-state tuition was much cheaper and

so I had to settle for North Texas instead.

Still have those early catalogs tho.

I'm not sure what's meant here by "The Machine", but I have to say that in '90,

I bought a Gysin "Dream Machine" (a Burroughs favorite) from Genesis P-Orridge and

thought that it was a massive rip-off for the money.

Don't know if s/he's still hawking them or not.

Under the impression at that time that they were limited,

but a monkey with construction paper and scissors

could make the same thing for a whole lot cheaper.

As for the Scientology bit, it wasn't as pervasively popular in those days,

but WSB had enough sense to recognize that the interesting bits were to keep

without the hokum of the cult and so he jumped ship.

Hell, I remember when they (and the Krishnas) came knocking, literally,

at my East Dallas door in '78 and I went to investigate because

I had interest in multiple choice questionnaires.

Money up front for their books and general creepiness made me run tho...

The line that's drawn from linear to experimental and back to linear

with the wisdom of lateral thinking all steeped in a life that melded

sound, text and visuals in a life of desperation - whether alone or with collaborators -

had that unmistakable Burroughs stamp that even overrode Gysin's contribution

to the artform of the cut-ups. Singularly important and aggressively individual in tone.

It's amazing that he lived as long as he did...

[AllenLowe]

if you think Burroughs can't write, read Junky. Great book -

[Niko]

there is an interesting episode in Joerg Fauser's autobiographic novel "Rohstoff" where Fauser's alter-ego does an interview with Burroughs and at the end Burroughs looks at him and says something like "you're using, too, right?" and Burroughs tells Fauser how to get off the stuff (forgot the name of the method)... this launches Fauser's switch from heroin to alcoholism and (maybe) his change from cut-up to the Bukowski influenced writing style of "Rohstoff" (have never been able to finish a book of Burroughs (or Fauser's early works ) but have spent some interesting hours with them... maybe i got them wrong but i thought they were not intended for being read from start to finish)

(vaguely recall an interview with Steely Dan, where they say the got their band name from naked lunch but hadn't read the whole book either)

[7/4]

(vaguely recall an interview with Steely Dan, where they say the got their band name from naked lunch but hadn't read the whole book either)

Steely Dan was a dildo.

[Alexander]

if you think Burroughs can't write, read Junky. Great book -

Yep. Amazing. My favorite of his books by far.

[Alexander]

(vaguely recall an interview with Steely Dan, where they say the got their band name from naked lunch but hadn't read the whole book either)

Steely Dan was a dildo.

A milk squirting dildo, to be exact!