William Burroughs and the Secret of Fascination

William Burroughs is both an object of widespread cultural fascination and one of America’s great original writers. The two mysteries that Oliver Harris explores are how Burroughs became that writer and what fascination itself means. His book is both a work of investigative scholarship that draws on rare access to manuscripts to unearth a secret history behind the received story of Burroughs the writer and an enquiry into the experience of being fascinated, its enigmatic psychology and seductive allure. Harris examines the major works Burroughs produced in the 1950s—Junky, Queer, The Yage Letters, and Naked Lunch—analyzing them within their cultural history and in relation to the methods of their writing. Piecing together for the first time an accurate, material record of Burroughs’ creative history during his germinal decade as a writer, Harris shows the importance of getting this right. He refutes the “junk paradigm” of addiction and instead reveals how the dark power of Burroughs’s fiction, particularly its sexual and political dimensions, was shaped by the creative energy he invested in his letter writing. As Burroughs said to Allen Ginsberg about Naked Lunch, “the real novel is letters to you.” Examining a history of epistolary practices from Kafka to Kerouac, Harris reveals the unique nature and economy of Burroughs’ letters. Readers are thus able to recognize the emergence of Burroughs’ true textual politics—not just his writing’s analysis of power, but its own relation to it—within his actual writing practices. Finally, it becomes clear that the discovery of such secrets does not demystify Burroughs, since this discovery is one more response to the enduring power of his fascination. William Burroughs is both an object of widespread cultural fascination and one of Americas great original writers. The two mysteries that Oliver Harris explores are how Burroughs became that writer and what fascination itself means. His book is both a work of investigative scholarship that draws on rare access to manuscripts to unearth a secret history behind the received story of Burroughs the writer and an enquiry into the experience of being fascinated, its enigmatic psychology and seductive allure. Harris examines the major works Burroughs produced in the 1950s Junky, Queer, The Yage Letters, and Naked Lunch analyzing them within their cultural history and in relation to the methods of their writing. Piecing together for the first time an accurate, material record of Burroughs creative history during his germinal decade as a writer, Harris shows the importance of getting this right. He refutes the junk paradigm of addiction and instead reveals how the dark power of Burroughss fiction, particularly its sexual and political dimensions, was shaped by the creative energy he invested in his letter writing. As Burroughs said to Allen Ginsberg about Naked Lunch, the real novel is letters to you. Examining a history of epistolary practices from Kafka to Kerouac, Harris reveals the unique nature and economy of Burroughs letters. Readers are thus able to recognize the emergence of Burroughs true textual politicsnot just his writings analysis of power, but its own relation to itwithin his actual writing practices. Finally, it becomes clear that the discovery of such secrets does not demystify Burroughs, since this discovery is one more response to the enduring power of his fascination.

Unraveling the mysteries of Naked Lunch, exploring the allure of fascination  

William Burroughs is both an object of widespread cultural fascination and one of America’s great writers. In this study, Oliver Harris elucidates the complex play of secrecy and revelation that defines the allure of fascination. Unraveling the mystifications of Burroughs the writer, Harris discovers what it means to be fascinated by a figure of major cultural influence and unearths a secret history behind the received story of one of America’s great original writers.

In William Burroughs and the Secret of Fascination, Harris examines the major works Burroughs produced in the 1950s—Junky, Queer, The Yage Letters, and Naked Lunch—to piece together an accurate, material record of his creative history during his germinal decade as a writer. Refuting the “junk paradigm” of addiction that has been used to categorize and characterize much of Burroughs’ oeuvre, Harris instead focuses on the significance of Burroughs’ letter writing and his remarkable and unsuspected use of the epistolary for his fiction. As Burroughs said to Allen Ginsberg about Naked Lunch, “the real novel is letters to you.” Drawing on rare access to manuscripts, the book suggests new ways of comprehending Burroughs’s unique politics and aesthetics and offers the first accurate account of the writing of Naked Lunch.

Preface......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 14 1 The Secret of Fascination......Page 18 2 Junkie:The Procedure Here Is More or Less Impersonal......Page 63 3 Queer:Welcome to Your Destiny......Page 95 4 Queer Letters and Yage Letters......Page 150 5 The Real Novel......Page 196 6 Naked Lunch:Master-Pieces......Page 232 Notes......Page 266 Works Cited......Page 278 Index......Page 294 Southern Illinois University Press Preface 10 Abbreviations 14 1 The Secret of Fascination 18 2 Junkie:The Procedure Here Is More or Less Impersonal 63 3 Queer:Welcome to Your Destiny 95 4 Queer Letters and Yage Letters 150 5 The Real Novel 196 6 Naked Lunch:Master-Pieces 232 Notes 266 Works Cited 278 Index 294 ISBN-13:,9780809324842 Examining the major works of Burroughs from the 1950s, Harris pieces together a material record of his creative history through an examination of his letter writing in real life, and in his fiction. Thus, the book suggests new ways to comprehend Burroughs's unique work and politics. The secret of fascination Junkie : the procedure here is more or less impersonal Queer : welcome to your destiny Queer letters and Yage letters The real novel Naked lunch : master-pieces.