William Burroughs: El Hombre Invisible

William Burroughs: El Hombre Invisible

by Barry Miles (Author)

Synopsis

Iconoclast; visionary; homosexual crusader; drug advocate; teacher and elder statesman to Jack Kracouac, Allen Ginsberg and the Beats; anti-hero guru to each successive counter-culture generation: Willaim Burroughs remains one of the most complex and controversial American writers of the twentieth century. A longtime heroin addict, Burroughs preferred to live abroad, away from America's Draconian drug laws. After killing his wife in a bizarre shooting accident, he moved to Tangier where he lived in male brothel and wrote his celebrated bestseller Naked Lunch - in Newsweek's words 'A masterpiece. A cry from Hell' - as a series of letters to Allen Ginsberg. He lived at the Beat Hotel in Paris and spent a decade in London before returning as prodigal son to New York in 1974 after 25 years of self imposed exile.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
Edition: 2Rev Ed
Publisher: Virgin Books
Published: 05 Sep 2002

ISBN 10: 0753507072
ISBN 13: 9780753507070
Book Overview: Repackaged and refreshed, this seminal biography of a counter-cultural icon is re-issued to form a core part of the Virgin backlist: '[Miles's] mastery of Beat Generation know-how must surely be unrivalled.' Sunday Telegraph

Media Reviews
Miles traces threads of Burroughs' images from childhood to tough elder genius, isolating sensitive themes, following recurrences and evolution of routines, clarifying Burroughs' comic pathetic heroic philosophies and insights into coherent whole. Miles familiarises even old close readers with a fine map of Burroughs' mind. * Allan Ginsberg *
There can be no more effective introduction. * Q *
Gives shape to a life that would otherwise seem crowded and aimless. * Independent on Sunday *
Author Bio
Barry Miles is a bestselling author of numerous biographies and cultural histories of the Beat Generation luminaries, The Beatles, the sixties movements and its musicians. He lives in London.