Call Me Burroughs: A Life

Barry Miles has written fourteen other books, many of them centered on the “beats”. As one would expect, this book is very well written and does a commendable job of documenting a life which is difficult to read about in a non fiction format. When one reads Burroughs, one can pretend it is all imaginative and sensational fiction, but in reading this biography, it is impossible to ignore that Burroughs led a despicable life.

William Burroughs lived a very long time (83 years) considering his dissolute life style. Totally supported by his parents for most of his life, Burroughs travelled to third world countries where he could buy the services of poverty stricken boys to satisfy his pedophiliac lust. It is heart breaking to read about sexual slavery being practiced by one who was admired and lionized by the literary community. Burroughs also murdered his wife by trying to shoot a glass off her head. Burroughs served thirteen days in jail and was bailed and bribed out of any prison time for culpable homicide. This book also depicts Burrough’s writing as a collaborative effort. How much did Allen Ginsberg contribute when he collected, edited and marketed Burrough’s writing? It seems there were many in Burrough’s circle who also contributed. This important book does much to raise questions about the intersection of true life and fiction. This reader wishes that it had been all made up because the book does cast a pall over Burrough’s literary masterpieces.