seems there’s a new documentary coming out about one of my favorite writers, William s. Burroughs, called William S. Burroughs: A Man Within. it looks pretty interesting. sadly, i’ll most likely have to wait till dvd to see it. anyway, here’s the official website & the trailer…
on august 2nd 2007 i wrote a few words for “my favorite junky”. here they are…
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.
September 10th, 2009 at 11:22 am
He did a cameo in a fantastic movie years ago (1989) about junkies that broke into drug stores and hospitals to score drugs called Drugstore Cowboy, with Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch and directed by Gus Van Zant. He played a Catholic Priest named Tom that was a junkie and the only true friend Matt had. He just played himself, actually. He WAS William S. Burroughs.
September 10th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
he did the cameo because the movie was based on his work.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:47 pm
DILAUDID was preferred over TUINAL as an injectibal drug of choice for Mr. Burroughs and I have no idea why he would look to that hitting hospitals, pharmacies, etc. Maybe Tuinal was not that available back then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuinal