Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Thoughts About William S. Burroughs

Haven't written much lately.  I blew up so much the last couple of times I decided to take a break.  Watched a movie recently,William S. Burroughs:  A Man Within and I recommend it to everyone. However, be warned, if you have anything like a normal life, it will make you sick.  Absolutely sick. To sum up Burroughs life, born to money, wasted his youth, became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Missed WWII because of health issues which may have been faked after he wasn't allowed in officer training.  Married, engaged in odd behaviors, murdered his wife, never went to trial for it, became addicted to heroin, starting hanging around with the beat guys, Ginsburg, Kerouac, etc, got some awful (yes they were provocative) books published made a name for himself, and spent the rest of addicted to drugs.  Son tried to earn his father's love and died from drinking before the age 30. William never saw his daughter after he murdered his wife.

I will be back to the movie in a minute...
When I was a kid I went to the local bookstore, Readmore, and picked out a couple of books one of which I thought was by the Tarzan author, Edgar Burroughs.  At the cash register the clerk asked had I read anything by this author before.  I said, sure, the Tarzan stories.  The clerk looked at me and said, that was Edgar Burroughs, this is William S Burroughs.  They are very different.  I said, well what the heck, I will buy it anyway.  The clerk said, what is you name?  I told him.  He said does your mother work over at the paper?  I said yes.  He said, I am not selling you this book.  You are too young.
I said ok, bought the other book and walked over to the library and found a couple William S Burroughs books, started reading one of them, I do not remember which, and thought oh my goodness.  What is this about?  Read a bit more  Looked at the others.  Read them a bit and said oh my, I am glad I didn't buy that book.

I didn't go back and thank the clerk.  I should have.

Few years later....age 20 or so I read Queer.  Or parts of it.  Awful. Vile. Didn't get it.  Didn't see why anyone would read it.  What was the point?  Sure I knew there were homosexuals, but after reading this I couldn't think of anything worse.  No love. No family. No compassion.  No future.

So when I began watching this movie, I knew a bit about his life and literature.  The movie filled in a lot of gaps.  I suppose I should start by noting, how unhealthy everyone in the movie looked.  Even William and the beat guys in old photos looked awful. Awful doesn't describe it really.  One has to pity those interviewed in the film.  The debauchery in their respective lives had destroyed them.  Sort of a reverse, Dorian Gray where every bit of damage done to the body and soul was done to the person's appearance, not a painting locked up in an attic.  

I checked out the poetry of some who knew William.  Pathetic.   Jello Biafra was inspired by William.  What more do you need to know?  Even Patti Smith looked so much worse than she did 30 years ago.  

I also note William was extremely careless with his firearms.  There is some video of him shooting and if, by some erroneous miracle, I had been with him I would have run from him until I dropped.  

He also had a thing for teenagers.  Apparently they were of age, but who knows what we weren't told.

Watching Patti Smith in this movie I thought,  I can't believe John McEnroe married her.  They must have divorced.  She looks terrible and the last time I saw him, he looked great.  So I went to Wikipedia. Whoops, John McEnroe married Patty Smyth, not Patti Smith.  Who knew there were two singers with homonym type names.  Well I least I didn't.

As the movie, thankfully, approached the end, John Waters appeared more and more frequently.  Right at the end Director Waters said, William showed all of us guys in high school how we could be different and still get attention.  Even though we didn't fit in, we could be different and find our own crowd.

Well that 's it isn't it?  John, William, Allan G, and others they were excluded from the "cool" groups in high school and spent the rest of their life acting out.  Focusing, to the exclusion of all else, on their perversion, their faults, in order to develop them, to celebrate them and to get attention.  

Watch the movie.  It is awful, pathetic, sorrowful, and worth you time.  When it ends say a prayer for everyone and give thanks that your life is not that life.

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