William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II (February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997), more commonly known as William S. Burroughs, was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer. His signature novel was Naked Lunch (1959).
Much of Burroughs' work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life. He was a primary member of the Beat Generation, an avant-garde author who affected popular culture as well as literature. Burroughs is widely admired for his uncompromising writings about his bisexual lifestyle and heroin use. The Beatles included a photo of him on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). He was admired by Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Laurie Anderson, Tom Waits and Kurt Cobain.
In 1984, he was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
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Frank Zappa
In December 1978, Zappa attended The Nova Convention: Entermedia Theater, Dec 1978, where he read the chapter The Talking Asshole from Burroughs' Naked Lunch. According to Burroughs (in an article for the video release of David Cronenberg's 1991 film adaptation of Naked Lunch, Zappa also suggested to adapt Naked Lunch into a Broadway musical, which Burroughs felt was a "pregnant idea, but it was not to be".
When Burroughs turned 70 in 1984, Zappa sent him a dozen roses.
William S. Burroughs is also mentioned and thanked in the liner notes of The MOFO Project/Object (2006) album. [1]
Sources
See Also
- Cash Cow. The Best Of Giorno Poetry Systems 1965-1993
- Frank Zappa, Musician, February 1994
- Frank Zappa: Outrage And Invention
- Naked Lunch
- The Nova Convention: Entermedia Theater, Dec 1978
- The Nova Convention
- The Talking Asshole
- You're A Hook. The 15 Year Anniversary Of Dial-A-Poem (1968-1983)
