Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs

About this book

Anarchist, heroin addict, alcoholic, nihilist, homosexual crusader, and brilliant writer, William S. Burroughs was the patron saint and Prince of Darkness of the Beats of the 1950s. His ground-breaking avant-garde masterpiece NAKED LUNCH shocked the literary world with its graphic descriptions of drug abuse and sexual perversion--and resulted in a landmark Supreme Court ruling on obscenity. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tim Morgan's biography of Burroughs captures one of the most lionized artist/criminals of our times--a violent, reckless genius whose history is as bizarre as his fiction. A rebel--hero, Burroughs symbolized the anti--authoritarian cause for three generations of the young and disillusioned--exploring the murkiest depths of human terror and degradation in his art--and in his life. Literary Outlawis a wild ride through the life of a man who became an icon for the counterculture and whose perverse and decadent life mirrors his remarkable art.