Burroughs, William S.

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William Seward Burroughs II (February 5, 1914 - August 2, 1997) was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer. Much of Burroughs' work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition which marked the last forty years of his life. He is a primary member of the Beat Generation, and is regarded as an avant-garde author who affected popular culture as well as literature. In 1984, he was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. · Can we improve this biography? Post your version


"Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape."

Burroughs, William S. · Desperation · 1 fans >>
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"Which came first the intestine or the tapeworm?"

Burroughs, William S. · Disease · 1 fans >>
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"There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks."

Burroughs, William S. · Dreams · 3 fans >>
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"Junk is the ideal product... the ultimate merchandise. No sales talk necessary. The client will crawl through a sewer and beg to buy."

Burroughs, William S. · Drugs · 2 fans >>
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"The face of evil is always the face of total need."

Burroughs, William S. · Evil · 3 fans >>
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"I think the ideal situation for a family is to be completely incestuous."

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"Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination."

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"America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers."

Burroughs, William S. · America · 1 fans >>
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"America is not a young land: it is old and dirty and evil before the settlers, before the Indians. The evil is there waiting."

Burroughs, William S. · America · 1 fans >>
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"I think there are innumerable gods. What we on earth call God is a little tribal God who has made an awful mess. Certainly forces operating through human consciousness control events."

Burroughs, William S. · God · 2 fans >>
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