Known for writing... Naked Lunch (1959), Junky (1953), Queer (1951-53)
• A prominent figure of the Beat Generation, regarded as a postmodernist author writing in the genre of 'paranoid fiction'.
Context
• The Beat Generation were a group of authors who had an influence on American culture (post-WW2) - mostly published/made popular in the 1950s. Beat culture involved the following: rejection of standard narrative values (e.g. reliable narrators?), spiritual exploration/exploration of American and Eastern religion, rejection of materialism, explicit portrayal of the human condition, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, sexual liberation
Howl (by Allen Ginsberg), Naked Lunch (by W. Burroughs), and On the Road (by Jack Kerouac are the most well-known examples of Beat literature. Howl and Naked Lunch were part of obscenity trials, that pushed the boundaries of publishing rules in the U.S.
Some aspects of the Beat movement morphed into the counterculture groups of the 1960s (e.g. hippie - although there were some differences to each group.)Life
• A prominent figure of the Beat Generation, regarded as a postmodernist author writing in the genre of 'paranoid fiction'.
Context
• The Beat Generation were a group of authors who had an influence on American culture (post-WW2) - mostly published/made popular in the 1950s. Beat culture involved the following: rejection of standard narrative values (e.g. reliable narrators?), spiritual exploration/exploration of American and Eastern religion, rejection of materialism, explicit portrayal of the human condition, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, sexual liberation
Howl (by Allen Ginsberg), Naked Lunch (by W. Burroughs), and On the Road (by Jack Kerouac are the most well-known examples of Beat literature. Howl and Naked Lunch were part of obscenity trials, that pushed the boundaries of publishing rules in the U.S.
Some aspects of the Beat movement morphed into the counterculture groups of the 1960s (e.g. hippie - although there were some differences to each group.)Life
• A lot of Burroughs' work is semi-autobiographical, infleunced by his experiences as a herion addict and his heavy drug use, his travels (London, Tangier, Mexico..), as well as his homosexuality which he kept a secret until adulthood.
• Burroughs came from a wealthy family, and grew up in St Louis, Missouri. He attended a boarding school for the wealthy in Mexico, where he kept journals of his attachment to another boy at the time. After high school, he left home to go to Harvard to do an arts degree. While at H.U., he made trips to New York City where he was introduced to the gay subculture there. He spent a brief time in Vienna, Austria to study - where he also became involved in the LGBT culture there.
• He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942, where he became dejected at not being classified as an officer. He was discharged when his mother noticed his depression.
Following this stint in the army, he moved to Chicago and held many jobs, such as an exterminator.
• Burroughs came from a wealthy family, and grew up in St Louis, Missouri. He attended a boarding school for the wealthy in Mexico, where he kept journals of his attachment to another boy at the time. After high school, he left home to go to Harvard to do an arts degree. While at H.U., he made trips to New York City where he was introduced to the gay subculture there. He spent a brief time in Vienna, Austria to study - where he also became involved in the LGBT culture there.
• He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942, where he became dejected at not being classified as an officer. He was discharged when his mother noticed his depression.
Following this stint in the army, he moved to Chicago and held many jobs, such as an exterminator.
Joan Vollmer, Drug Use
• 1944 - Burroughs began living with Joan Vollmer Adams (married to a G.I. at this time, with a young daughter) sharing an apartment with Jack Kerouac and his wife Edie Parker.
• He became addicted to morphine, eventually selling heroin in Greenwich Village to support this addiction. Vollmer also became an addict, choosing Benzedrine. Because of those she associated with and her drug problem, her husband divorced her after returning from war.
• Burroughs was urged by friends to move in with Vollmer and her daughter. A string of events led to them marrying (Vollmer nearly losing custody of her child during time at a mental facility, which prompted Burroughs to return to NYC.) Never formally married, Vollmer lived as his common-law wife.
Move to Mexico, Vollmer's Death
• The pair (along with their child, and Vollmer's daughter) moved to Mexico for Burroughs to escape detention from prison. With no heroin, and his Benzedrine abuse, Burroughs began openly pursuing other men (as his libido returned.) Vollmer turned to drinking heavily because of this.
• At a bar with friends one night, Burroughs took his gun from a bag and pursuaded Vollmer to carry out a 'William Tell act'. Vollmer, suffering from withdrawals and alcoholism by now, agreed. Burroughs missed the glass on Vollmer's head, killing her immediately.
• 1944 - Burroughs began living with Joan Vollmer Adams (married to a G.I. at this time, with a young daughter) sharing an apartment with Jack Kerouac and his wife Edie Parker.
• He became addicted to morphine, eventually selling heroin in Greenwich Village to support this addiction. Vollmer also became an addict, choosing Benzedrine. Because of those she associated with and her drug problem, her husband divorced her after returning from war.
• Burroughs was urged by friends to move in with Vollmer and her daughter. A string of events led to them marrying (Vollmer nearly losing custody of her child during time at a mental facility, which prompted Burroughs to return to NYC.) Never formally married, Vollmer lived as his common-law wife.
Move to Mexico, Vollmer's Death
• At a bar with friends one night, Burroughs took his gun from a bag and pursuaded Vollmer to carry out a 'William Tell act'. Vollmer, suffering from withdrawals and alcoholism by now, agreed. Burroughs missed the glass on Vollmer's head, killing her immediately.
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