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my favorite junky
By vrtualme | August 2, 2007
Today marked the 10th anniversary of the death of William s. Burroughs. I’ve been a huge fan of his work for many years now, and own/read quite a few of his books. To the general public he’s most famous for being the author of “naked lunch” for which there was a movie named in 1991. Though anyone who’s ever read the book knows the movie is based more on the author himself than the book it’s named for. 
To literary fans Burroughs is known for being one of the founding members of the “beat generation” along with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. A group of writers that crushed the accepted ideas of 1950’s literature, and strongly influenced the future of artistic expression. Some of those giving credit to Burroughs are David Cronenberg (who adapted “naked lunch” for the big screen), the group Steely Dan (who
got its name from “naked lunch”) and David Bowie (who used Burroughs’ odd “cut-up” style of writing in his song “Moonage Daydream“). In recording studios Burroughs has collaborated with such legends as Laurie Anderson, Kurt Cobain, R.E.M. and Tom Waits. And you can see some of his short films on Youtube. The man’s interesting life was often the underlying subject for most of his writing. If you’ve got a bit of time I strongly suggest you read his Wikipedia write-up.
Topics: art, births & deaths, movies |