Burroughs, William S. 1914-1997

Naked lunch by William S Burroughs ( Book )
197 editions published between 1958 and 2010 in 20 languages and held by 2,910 libraries worldwide
Bill Lee, an addict and hustler, travels to Mexico and then Tangier in order to find easy access to drugs, and ends up in the Interzone, a bizarre fantasy world, in a commemorative edition that features restored text, archival material, Burroughs's own later introduction to the book, and his essay on psychoactive drugs.

Junky by William S Burroughs ( Book )
108 editions published between 1953 and 2010 in 17 languages and held by 1,505 libraries worldwide
"Burroughs' first novel, a largely autobiographical account of the constant cycle of drug dependency, cures and relapses, remains the most unflinching, unsentimental account of addiction ever written. Through junk neighbourhoods in New York, New Orleans and Mexico City, through time spent kicking, time spent dealing and time rolling drunks for money, through junk sickness and a sanatorium, Junky is a field report (by a writer trained in anthropology at Harvard) from the American post-war drug underground. A cult classic, it has influenced generations of writers with its raw, sparse and unapologetic tone. This definitive edition painstakingly recreates the author's original text word for word." -- Book cover.

Cities of the red night by William S Burroughs ( Book )
36 editions published between 1980 and 2010 in 11 languages and held by 1,219 libraries worldwide
Clem Snide, a private detective, has to solve a case of ritual murder. In the Gobi Desert 100,000 years ago, a red virus has erupted. And in the 18th century, gay pirates have set up their own republics in South America and are at war with the conquistadors. All three stories are merged at the end in a giant trans-time, trans-space battle.

And the hippos were boiled in their tanks by William S Burroughs ( Book )
15 editions published between 2008 and 2010 in English and Spanish and held by 1,156 libraries worldwide
"On August 14, 1944, Lucien Carr, a friend of William S. Burroughs from St. Louis, stabbed a man named David Kammerer with a Boy Scout knife and threw his body in the Hudson River. For eight years, Kammerer had fawned over the younger Carr, but that night something happened: either Carr had had enough or he was forced to defend himself." "The next day, his clothes stained with blood, Carr went to his friends Bill Burroughs and Jack Kerouac for help. Doing so, he involved them in the crime. A few months later, they were caught up in the crime in a different way." "Something about the murder captivated the Beats, especially Kerouac and Burroughs, who decided to collaborate on a novel about the events of the previous summer. At the time, the two authors were still unknown, yet to write anything of note. Narrating alternating chapters, they pieced together a hard-boiled tale of bohemian New York during World War II, full of drugs and art, obsession and violence, with scenes and characters drawn from their own lives." "They submitted their manuscript - called And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks after an absurd line from a radio bulletin about a circus fire - to publishers, but it was rejected and confined to a filing cabinet for decades. Finally published, at long last, And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks tells the story of Ramsay Allen and the object of his fixation, the charismatic, idealistic young Phillip Tourian. Phillip and his friends drink and dream in the bars and apartments of the West Village, until, with his friend Mike Ryko (Kerouac's narrator), he hatches a plan to ship out as a merchant marine. They'll catch a boat for France and jump ship, then make their way through the front to Paris.".

The soft machine by William S Burroughs ( Book )
71 editions published between 1961 and 2011 in 10 languages and held by 1,128 libraries worldwide
Novel.

The western lands by William S Burroughs ( Book )
24 editions published between 1987 and 2010 in 6 languages and held by 1,106 libraries worldwide
Burroughs reads from his novel, The western lands, and talks about his literary history.

The place of dead roads by William S Burroughs ( Book )
29 editions published between 1983 and 2010 in 7 languages and held by 1,043 libraries worldwide
William Burroughs reads excerpts from his novel entitled Place of dead roads, and tells tales about Western lands, the Sewer Sultan, and Reaganomics.

Writers at work : the Paris review interviews, third series ( Book )
6 editions published in 1967 in English and held by 981 libraries worldwide
"Interviews and biographical notes, prepared for book publication by George Plimpton."

The ticket that exploded by William S Burroughs ( Book )
39 editions published between 1962 and 2010 in 7 languages and held by 974 libraries worldwide

Queer by William S Burroughs ( Book )
36 editions published between 1985 and 2010 in 11 languages and held by 953 libraries worldwide
Set in Mexico City during the early fifities, the story follows William Lee from bar to bar in the American expatriate scene as he pursues a young man named Allerton.