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Last Words William Burroughs

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Last Words By William Burroughs

Last Words by William Burroughs


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Condition - Very Good
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Summary

Where are the snows of yesteryear. And the speedballs I useta know? Well, I guess its time for my Ovaltine and a long good night.

Last Words Summary

Last Words by William Burroughs

Where are the snows of yesteryear. And the speedballs I useta know? Well, I guess its time for my Ovaltine and a long good night.

In 1996 William Burroughs began writing a final journal. He died the following summer after a life of notoriety: godfather of the Beat writers, author of thirteen controversial novels, druggy, dangerous and bleak. Spanning the realms of personal memoir, cultural criticism and fiction, Burroughs diaries include anecdotes and memories, entries on his beloved cats and the joys of housekeeping, and musings on drug-taking, humanity and government cover-ups.

Last Words contains some of the most brutally personal prose in the William Burroughs canon, and the deaths of his friends, Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary, provide a window onto his own preparations for death a quest for absolution marked by a profound sense of guilt and loss.

Last Words Reviews

He is a writer of enormous richness whose books are a kind of attempt to blow up this cosy conspiracy, to allow us to see the truth. J. G. Ballard

These journals make for unbearably poignant reading. Unlikely as it may sound, Bill Burroughs was only human after all. The Times

An exploration in depth, and in sum, of Burroughs personality and creative pre-occupations[A] rich repetition, with variations, of a string of half-conscious fancies, scenarios and literary allusions. Last Words also presents fresh clues to the larger design of his imagination, and a means of gaining a renewed perspective on his work. New York Times

Last Words reveals the author of Naked Lunch riddled with arthritis and still saddled with guilt for shooting his common-law wife in 1951. Although he seems more vulnerable than ever before, the anti-establishment anger continues to flare up at odd moments, his skewed sense of humour still sends out sparks. Time Out

Theres a savage glamour about William Burroughs, both in his writing and his lifeLast Words, made during the last nine months of his life, shows him to be as sharp-minded as ever. Ham & High

Elegiac and filled with a curious kind of contentment at the way things have turned out. For the first and only time, he reveals a gentler self, full of years and filled with grace. He was a great American writer to the end. Gay Times

Fascinating. Burroughs surfaces among his words as a bent, acute, watchful, irritated, clever old man, like a sparkling eye peering out from the greasy broken panes of a dilapidated building. Financial Times

Last Words is filled with memories and reminiscences delivered in staccato poignancy. Burroughs cuts up his recollections and dreams, merging, always playfully, sometimes painfully, fact with fictionA welcome addition to the extensive Burroughs oeuvre. Scotsman

About William Burroughs

William Burroughs was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1914. Immensely influential among the Beat writers of the 1950s notably Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg he already had an underground reputation before the appearance of his first important book, Naked Lunch. Originally published by the daring and influential Olympia Press (the original publishers of Henry Miller) in France in 1959, it aroused great controversy on publication and was not available in the US until 1962 and in the UK until 1964. The book was adapted for film by David Cronenberg in 1991. William Burroughs died in 1997.

Additional information

GOR004186170
9780007341948
0007341946
Last Words by William Burroughs
Used - Very Good
Paperback
HarperCollins Publishers
2010-04-29
304
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Last Words