[Book] William S Burroughs: Junkie (1953)

RemadERemadE Global Moderator
edited December 2012 in Spurious Generalities
Born in 1914 and dying in 1997William S Burroughs was an infamous drug user, Author, infamous member of the Beat Generation and friend of people such as Kurt Cobain, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and James Grauerholz. He also featured in the film Drugstore Cowboy giving monologues about drug use and predictions on the way the world would police the flow of narcotics.
More information can be found if you fancy Googling him. Lots of media - video, documentary, audio and of course writing, can be found on him.

I was introduced to the twisted, colourful and at times depressing world of William S Burroughs when I was 18 by my closest friend, when he handed me "The Naked Lunch".

I couldn't put it down despite being both confused and intrigued at the descriptive arrays of everything from the character in it, to his drug taking, homosexual fantasies and travels. I was even reading it while out hunting it was so glued to me.
I was relieved when I finished it, however, as it truly was a heavy book. Heavy but cut into easily manageable chunks.

So the other day I downloaded the audiobook collection of Mr Burroughs and was soon into his other book, "Junkie". Just coming off a 3 day withdrawal of Morphine, it seemed apt.
And I was hooked again. But this time on .MP3 files.

In his trademark nasally deep voice, he talks briefly about his childhood, his University years and then goes onto how he began to use Opiates.
I find it an enthralling listen/read as he describes sleepwalking into addiction, the drug marketplace in New York during the 40s and 50s and how he kept his habit going despite run-ins with all manner of dirty, gritty characters.
As a homosexual, his life has some interesting view on the Queer community (as he calls it) such as cruising around, bumping into Lesbians during deals and his experiences with en that would make advances on him.
In short, it's an amazing look into the grey, drab underbelly of New York in the 1950s.

In contrast to his other works such as The Naked Lunch this book is a lot more realistic. No hallucinogenic diatribes or traveling from one place, almost instantly, to another. Instead, almost a chore-like day by day, week by week and year by year account of the life of a boy, who grew up and found himself sucked into an Opiate addiction.

What really struck me were the following parts. I thought I'd include a few excerpts for your entertainment, in case you fancy buying a copy (I do have the ebook in case someone really wants it as it's hard to find online).


"Herman contacted other tea heads. They all gave us
static. In practice, pushing weed is a headache. To begin
with, weed is bulky. You need a full suitcase to realize any
money. If the cops start kicking your door in, it's like being
with a bale of alfalfa.
Tea heads are not like junkies. A junky hands you the
money, takes his junk and cuts. But tea heads don't do
things that way. They expect the peddler to light them up
and sit around talking for half an hour to sell two dollars'
worth of weed. If you come right to the point, they say you
are a "bring down." In fact, a peddler should not come
right out and say he is a peddler. No, he just scores for a
few good "cats" and "chicks" because he is viperish.
Everyone knows that he himself is the connection, but it is
bad form to say so. God knows why. To me, tea heads are
unfathomable."



I got a codeine script from an old doctor by putting
down a story about migraine headaches. Codeine is better
than nothing and five grains in the skin will keep you from
being sick. For some reason, it is dangerous to shoot codeine
in the vein.



I went to one of the Big Three universities, where I
majored in English literature for lack of interest in any
other subject. I hated the University and I hated the town
it was in. Everything about the place was dead. The University
was a fake English setup taken over by the graduates
of fake English public schools. I was lonely. I knew no
one, and strangers were regarded with distaste by the
closed corporation of the desirables.
By accident I met some rich homosexuals, of the international
queer set who cruise around the world, bumping
into each other in queer joints from New York to
Cairo. I saw a way of life, a vocabulary, references, a
whole symbol system, as the sociologists say. But these
people were jerks for the most part and, after an initial
period of fascination, I cooled off on the setup.
When I graduated without honors, I had one hundred
fifty dollars per month in trust. That was in the depression
and there were no jobs and I couldn't think of any job I
wanted, in any case. I drifted around Europe for a year or
so. Remnants of the postwar decay lingered in Europe.
U.S. dollars could buy a good percentage of the inhabitants
of Austria, male or female. That was in 1936, and the
Nazis were closing in fast.


Just thought I'd recommend an awesome book, which isn't too long, for anyone to check out. And this is coming from a guy who gets so bored, lethargic and downright stroppy, he barely has the energy to pick up a book, let alone listen to one, for more than a minute at a stretch.

And now for some obligatory Burroughs bits :hai:
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Burroughs and Kerouac, taken by Ginsberg, 1953

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(for Dfg, this is a transcript of the video, entitled "William S Burroughs Thanksgiving Prayer")

There's loads more, but no point spamming. You can also find the complete audiobook of "Junkie" on YouTube :)

Comments

  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited December 2012
    That video was pretty hard hitting.
  • RemadERemadE Global Moderator
    edited December 2012
    With my recent phobia post, the first line about guts made me cringe and think. The guy does sing the praises of the USA - he has to, given how much it helped him. Just on certain topics, like everyone, you'd be a tad shocked at the views harboured.
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited December 2012
    I wasn't shocked so much as I was pleased that someone besides me saw the shit he talked about.
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