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Maldito desde la cuna
"Born in 1947 to the writer William S. Burroughs and his common-law wife Joan Vollmer, William S. Burroughs, Jr. (known as Billy Jr.), would later describe himself as "your cursed-from-birth son." Cursed From Birth is a testimony to the difficulty of living in the turbulent wake of a famous father, his famous and troubled friends, and a lucid, shattering depiction of a life going down the tubes." "Raised by his paternal grandparents in Palm Beach after his mother was killed by his father in a shooting accident, Billy saw his father become suddenly famous for Naked Lunch just as he became a teenager. Billy Jr.'s short life was defined by creating trouble to catch the attention of his father, mourning the death of his mother, descending into alcoholism and drug addiction, and reckoning with it all by beginning his own literary endeavors." Compiled by writer David Ohle from Burroughs Jr.'s third and unfinished novel Prakriti Junction, his last journals and poems, and correspondence and conversations with those who knew Billy, Cursed from Birth is faithful to Billy's own intentions for a last artistic effort. With the sufferings - but not the patience - of Job, Billy Burroughs's life illustrates the fall of one "whom the gods would destroy".
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2002
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436 people want to read
About the author
William S. Burroughs Jr.
6 books27 followersWilliam S. Burroughs III, a.k.a. William S. Burroughs Jr. or Billy Burroughs, was the son of author William S. Burroughs and Joan Vollmer.
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April 19, 2021
Whoa, this was a rough one: Compiled from texts and letters by as well as statements about William S. Burroughs Jr., son of, you guessed it, Beat icon William S. Burroughs, this volume paints a stark picture of the life of a man adrift. Billy Jr. was born addicted to Benzedrine, and when he was four, his heroin-addicted father shot his mother - maybe in a game of William Tell (contested by Burroughs Sr.), maybe in the presence of the child (also contested by Burroughs Sr.). Burroughs Sr. left Billy with his parents and indulged in his shenanigans, and when his teenage son visited him in Tangier, he was apparently sexually molested by the libertines present and given drugs. By then, Billy had already started with his substance abuse, and his habit would later escalate, he would become an alcoloholc, then receive a liver transplant which gave him some additional years in absolute misery (pain, alcohol, drugs, severe mental problems). He died at age 33, never fully realizing his ambitions as a writer.
But while at first, one might be inclined to say that Billy Jr. was indeed "cursed from birth", it's in fact not that easy. This man did have severe behavorial problems, he was unable/unwilling to attend school or generally conform to schedules, he was constantly on the move and never managed to control his life. Was it due to a predisposition acquired in the womb? Was his psychotherapy unsuccessful? And most importantly: Were the people around him cruel and neglectful? The book is full of letters and statements by Burroughs Sr., Ginsberg and others from their circle that show and discuss how they tried to help Billy, financially, medically and emotionally. And it's also full of Billy telling stories about himself being ruthless, admitting to his behavior being terrible, and then just going on being a real a***. Still: This man's suffering must have been tremendous.
So Billy Jr. was out of control, unable to navigate life, and as the book nears its (and Billy's) end, the texts show how people started giving up on the man who seemed to long for death. They couldn't do it anymore: His tantrums, his violent outbursts, his suicidal drinking, his erratic behavior. And again: On the one hand, it's hard to blame them. On the other hand, Billy was sick, lonely, poor and traumatized. He never realized what he could have become, and after closing the book, the story seems like a terrible tragedy full of people struggling and failing, both each other and themselves.
This story should be more widely read and pondered when talking about the Beats and the utopia they tried to create, not because Billy Jr. would somehow demask the greats of Beat writing, but because it is a story about the demons all of them shared.
But while at first, one might be inclined to say that Billy Jr. was indeed "cursed from birth", it's in fact not that easy. This man did have severe behavorial problems, he was unable/unwilling to attend school or generally conform to schedules, he was constantly on the move and never managed to control his life. Was it due to a predisposition acquired in the womb? Was his psychotherapy unsuccessful? And most importantly: Were the people around him cruel and neglectful? The book is full of letters and statements by Burroughs Sr., Ginsberg and others from their circle that show and discuss how they tried to help Billy, financially, medically and emotionally. And it's also full of Billy telling stories about himself being ruthless, admitting to his behavior being terrible, and then just going on being a real a***. Still: This man's suffering must have been tremendous.
So Billy Jr. was out of control, unable to navigate life, and as the book nears its (and Billy's) end, the texts show how people started giving up on the man who seemed to long for death. They couldn't do it anymore: His tantrums, his violent outbursts, his suicidal drinking, his erratic behavior. And again: On the one hand, it's hard to blame them. On the other hand, Billy was sick, lonely, poor and traumatized. He never realized what he could have become, and after closing the book, the story seems like a terrible tragedy full of people struggling and failing, both each other and themselves.
This story should be more widely read and pondered when talking about the Beats and the utopia they tried to create, not because Billy Jr. would somehow demask the greats of Beat writing, but because it is a story about the demons all of them shared.
July 17, 2007
This is a rather discombobulated, jumpy cobbling of the late Burroughs Jr's final writings, snippets of interviews with his family and associates (including Burroughs Sr.) and his personal correspondence. It is absolutely beautiful. I waited for years for this to be released. I even e-mailed the publisher every time the date was pushed back, all petulant and whiney and sad. It's surprisingly impossible to find anything, writings or otherwise, about Billy Burroughs, so it was like filet mignon after a decade of eating breadcrumbs. I finished the whole thing in a single day and bawled like a baby at the end.
April 30, 2016
En lo que se conoció como la Generación Beat siempre resaltan los nombres que fueron mas emblemáticos dentro de ella por ejemplo William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso y Neal Cassady entre muchos otros pero ¿qué sucedió con los que tuvieron hijos y qué fue de ellos? Jack Kerouac tuvo una única hija de nombre Jan quien con poco éxito se dedicaría a la literatura como su padre, por su parte Neal Cassady tuvo tres hijos de quienes no se supo mucho mas de ellos, pero quien realmente decidió seguir al pie de la letra los pasos de su padre fue el vástago del eterno beatnik William S. Burroughs escritor de dos clásicos de la literatura como lo son “El almuerzo desnudo” y “Yonqui”, este niño sería conocido bajo el mismo nombre de su padre hablamos de William S. Burroughs Jr.
La nueva editorial española Dirty Works ha presentado como su segundo libro editado en castellano la obra llamada “Maldito desde la cuna – La vida corta e infeliz de William S. Burroughs Jr.” un libro de visita obligatoria para quienes quieren conocer la vida del hijo de quien quizás para muchos era principal exponente de la Generación Beat. Nacido en 1947 con una madre que en pleno embarazo continuaba abusando de diferentes tipos de drogas como la benzedrina por mencionar solo una de ellas, drogadicto, alcohólico, frecuente visitante de centros de desintoxicación, conoció la cárcel en más de una oportunidad, diagnosticado como un verdadero psicópata limítrofe, luego de una larga operación de 18 horas para un trasplante de hígado continuaría abusando de su cuerpo con todo tipo de drogas a pesar de las fuertes advertencias de sus médicos, vivió en las calles y supo lo que es encontrarse al margen de todo lo que pudo significar el sueño americano, logra escribir tres novelas “Speed” (1970), “Kentucky Ham” (1973) y una tercera que no logró terminar “Prakiti Junction” la cual comenzó en 1977 y de la que se pueden leer extractos de ella en el libro del que hablaré ahora.
Es interesante leer este trabajo que se encontraba para algunos algo escondido porque en el nos muestra esa otra parte bastante trágica de lo que significó ser el hijo de alguien como William S. Burroughs y saber que su padre asesinó de un disparo en la cabeza a su madre cuando tan solo tendría 4 años de edad, estar rodeado de un entorno que culturalmente cambió a Norteamérica aunque algunos hasta el día de hoy se nieguen a aceptarlo y que ese apellido se convertiría en un peso sobre sus hombros y una sombra casi que imposible de esquivar.
“Maldito desde la cuna – La vida corta e infeliz de William S. Burroughs Jr.” es una novela considerada como biográfica, escrita en primera persona y con un verbo en algunos momentos violento donde no hay el mas mínimo interés de cuidar las formas al escribir, su autor y personaje a quien conoceremos como Billy cuenta sus más vivas experiencias para él la muerte de su madre en aquel terrible juego de Guillermo Tell entre su padre y su progenitora es lo que realmente significaría el punto y aparte para lo que sería su futuro ya que luego de ese lamentable suceso iría a vivir con sus abuelos, como bien es sabido su padre huyó para no ser capturado luego del crimen y esto se convierte en otra marca mas durante su infancia. La niñez de Billy siempre estuvo marcada por un gran deseo de querer acabar con su vida y de ver todo de la manera mas clara posible, las medias tintas para él no existían, Burroughs Jr. consiguió en las drogas el escape y el escondite que no pudo encontrar en otras áreas artísticas como su padre si logró hacerlo. A diferencia de Burroughs Jr. su padre sabía cuando frenar para volver arrancar con furia dentro del abuso con las drogas en cambio él no pudo lograr este frío control, es curioso como pareciera no existir vínculo alguno entre padre e hijo pero si una búsqueda en la imagen de Allen Ginsberg como esa figura paterna que siente perdida. Burroughs Jr. fue una persona sin curso, abusaba de sí mismo hasta mas no poder, su vida amorosa resultó sumar mas caos a la pesadilla de la soledad que lo asfixiaba cada día y que todo pareciera empujarlo mas y mas dentro del abismo.
Mientras uno lee y avanza entre las paginas nota ese desespero por querer formar parte de esa generación, de ser un verdadero beat, quería escribir su propia versión de “En el camino” de Jack Kerouac algo que no pudo lograr por ese misma impaciencia de querer sentirse aceptado no solo dentro de un movimiento que cambiaba velozmente y quizás ya bajaba la guardia con el momento histórico que vivía esa Norteamérica, a menos que “Maldito desde la cuna” pudiera considerarse hoy en día su propia versión del clásico de Kerouac. No sería fácil ver como su padre se hacía un gran nombre alrededor del mundo y dentro de la literatura mientras él se sentía asfixiado bajo ese apellido junto a todos esos amigos que llegaron a rodearlo y cuidar de él cuando William se encontraba en alguna gira o escribiendo en cualquier lugar del mundo. Sus últimos días llegarían luego de un complicado trasplante de hígado que pudo darle mucho mas tiempo para que siguiera escribiendo pero decidió continuar hundiéndose mas y mas en una vida de abusos y excesos con todo tipo de sustancias que lo llevarían a fallecer a la edad de 33 años luego de una falla hepática. Es curioso que “Maldito desde la cuna – La vida corta e infeliz de William Burroughs Jr.” termina justamente con una frase cargada de potencia ante ese apellido que soportaba con dificultad “Esto puede continuar y continuará por los siglos de los siglos-pero el Espacio, el Tiempo + la Fortuna (todas las revistas-¿Blasfemia?) me dejan sin espacio-por-suerte para ser considerado como tu eterno Siervo-Billy.”
El libro se encuentra acompañado entre capitulo y capitulo con algunas de las cartas que fueron escritas entre padre e hijo en las que muchas de ellas uno puede observar a un William Burroughs en momentos bastante angustiado y muy humano sin perder el control ante la lamentable situación que se encontraba viviendo su hijo, como también algunos extractos de entrevistas con personajes importantes de la Generación Beat que nos ayuda a aclarar cuanto de cierto hay en lo que escribía este joven autor.
La desaparición física de William S. Burroughs Jr. significó para muchos la muerte del último beatnik y aunque pareciera que no lo lograría luego de leer esta autobiografía es imposible no sumar y colocar donde merece estar el nombre de este autor a la larga lista de autores beats consagrados en la historia. La editorial Dirty Works ha hecho un gran trabajo en la presentación y la traducción de un libro que es considerado una aguja en un pajar dentro de la literatura norteamericana y hay que agradecer que sigan mostrando interés en libros como estos que no cualquier editorial se anima a publicar. Enhorabuena por esta pequeña editorial que ya lleva unas cuantas maravillas publicadas todas con excelentes presentaciones y un trabajo digno de admirar.
La nueva editorial española Dirty Works ha presentado como su segundo libro editado en castellano la obra llamada “Maldito desde la cuna – La vida corta e infeliz de William S. Burroughs Jr.” un libro de visita obligatoria para quienes quieren conocer la vida del hijo de quien quizás para muchos era principal exponente de la Generación Beat. Nacido en 1947 con una madre que en pleno embarazo continuaba abusando de diferentes tipos de drogas como la benzedrina por mencionar solo una de ellas, drogadicto, alcohólico, frecuente visitante de centros de desintoxicación, conoció la cárcel en más de una oportunidad, diagnosticado como un verdadero psicópata limítrofe, luego de una larga operación de 18 horas para un trasplante de hígado continuaría abusando de su cuerpo con todo tipo de drogas a pesar de las fuertes advertencias de sus médicos, vivió en las calles y supo lo que es encontrarse al margen de todo lo que pudo significar el sueño americano, logra escribir tres novelas “Speed” (1970), “Kentucky Ham” (1973) y una tercera que no logró terminar “Prakiti Junction” la cual comenzó en 1977 y de la que se pueden leer extractos de ella en el libro del que hablaré ahora.
Es interesante leer este trabajo que se encontraba para algunos algo escondido porque en el nos muestra esa otra parte bastante trágica de lo que significó ser el hijo de alguien como William S. Burroughs y saber que su padre asesinó de un disparo en la cabeza a su madre cuando tan solo tendría 4 años de edad, estar rodeado de un entorno que culturalmente cambió a Norteamérica aunque algunos hasta el día de hoy se nieguen a aceptarlo y que ese apellido se convertiría en un peso sobre sus hombros y una sombra casi que imposible de esquivar.
“Maldito desde la cuna – La vida corta e infeliz de William S. Burroughs Jr.” es una novela considerada como biográfica, escrita en primera persona y con un verbo en algunos momentos violento donde no hay el mas mínimo interés de cuidar las formas al escribir, su autor y personaje a quien conoceremos como Billy cuenta sus más vivas experiencias para él la muerte de su madre en aquel terrible juego de Guillermo Tell entre su padre y su progenitora es lo que realmente significaría el punto y aparte para lo que sería su futuro ya que luego de ese lamentable suceso iría a vivir con sus abuelos, como bien es sabido su padre huyó para no ser capturado luego del crimen y esto se convierte en otra marca mas durante su infancia. La niñez de Billy siempre estuvo marcada por un gran deseo de querer acabar con su vida y de ver todo de la manera mas clara posible, las medias tintas para él no existían, Burroughs Jr. consiguió en las drogas el escape y el escondite que no pudo encontrar en otras áreas artísticas como su padre si logró hacerlo. A diferencia de Burroughs Jr. su padre sabía cuando frenar para volver arrancar con furia dentro del abuso con las drogas en cambio él no pudo lograr este frío control, es curioso como pareciera no existir vínculo alguno entre padre e hijo pero si una búsqueda en la imagen de Allen Ginsberg como esa figura paterna que siente perdida. Burroughs Jr. fue una persona sin curso, abusaba de sí mismo hasta mas no poder, su vida amorosa resultó sumar mas caos a la pesadilla de la soledad que lo asfixiaba cada día y que todo pareciera empujarlo mas y mas dentro del abismo.
Mientras uno lee y avanza entre las paginas nota ese desespero por querer formar parte de esa generación, de ser un verdadero beat, quería escribir su propia versión de “En el camino” de Jack Kerouac algo que no pudo lograr por ese misma impaciencia de querer sentirse aceptado no solo dentro de un movimiento que cambiaba velozmente y quizás ya bajaba la guardia con el momento histórico que vivía esa Norteamérica, a menos que “Maldito desde la cuna” pudiera considerarse hoy en día su propia versión del clásico de Kerouac. No sería fácil ver como su padre se hacía un gran nombre alrededor del mundo y dentro de la literatura mientras él se sentía asfixiado bajo ese apellido junto a todos esos amigos que llegaron a rodearlo y cuidar de él cuando William se encontraba en alguna gira o escribiendo en cualquier lugar del mundo. Sus últimos días llegarían luego de un complicado trasplante de hígado que pudo darle mucho mas tiempo para que siguiera escribiendo pero decidió continuar hundiéndose mas y mas en una vida de abusos y excesos con todo tipo de sustancias que lo llevarían a fallecer a la edad de 33 años luego de una falla hepática. Es curioso que “Maldito desde la cuna – La vida corta e infeliz de William Burroughs Jr.” termina justamente con una frase cargada de potencia ante ese apellido que soportaba con dificultad “Esto puede continuar y continuará por los siglos de los siglos-pero el Espacio, el Tiempo + la Fortuna (todas las revistas-¿Blasfemia?) me dejan sin espacio-por-suerte para ser considerado como tu eterno Siervo-Billy.”
El libro se encuentra acompañado entre capitulo y capitulo con algunas de las cartas que fueron escritas entre padre e hijo en las que muchas de ellas uno puede observar a un William Burroughs en momentos bastante angustiado y muy humano sin perder el control ante la lamentable situación que se encontraba viviendo su hijo, como también algunos extractos de entrevistas con personajes importantes de la Generación Beat que nos ayuda a aclarar cuanto de cierto hay en lo que escribía este joven autor.
La desaparición física de William S. Burroughs Jr. significó para muchos la muerte del último beatnik y aunque pareciera que no lo lograría luego de leer esta autobiografía es imposible no sumar y colocar donde merece estar el nombre de este autor a la larga lista de autores beats consagrados en la historia. La editorial Dirty Works ha hecho un gran trabajo en la presentación y la traducción de un libro que es considerado una aguja en un pajar dentro de la literatura norteamericana y hay que agradecer que sigan mostrando interés en libros como estos que no cualquier editorial se anima a publicar. Enhorabuena por esta pequeña editorial que ya lleva unas cuantas maravillas publicadas todas con excelentes presentaciones y un trabajo digno de admirar.
July 18, 2023
If multiple liver transplants is your thing or if you are particularly fascinated in the lives of homeless, self-pitying and chronic alcoholics then this book is for you.
This may sound a bit harsh and cold a judgment and may also falsely hide an impression of infinite sadness and distress that transpires from the whole book.
But.
Sadness and self-pity: You get your fill of all that here.
As the autobiographical notes from the author were not sufficient to form a complete book, here we find a mixture between these notes, as well as letters and small notes about William Burroughs Jr written by his relatives or people who knew him.
The result is variably interesting with some brilliant passages or sentences at times. The contributors being mostly friends or relatives of William Burroughs Sr, such as James Grauerholz, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman and William Burroughs Sr himself, the interest we find in the book comes essentially from the fact that the author is the son of his father, William Seward Burroughs Sr and not from the author himself.
So yes, it is a book about the son of William Burroughs Sr.
What did William Burroughs Jr himself leave to posterity? to answer this question I may have to read Speed and Kentucky Ham, as, in my opinion, this book here is not it. Its only appeal being that it is rather an additional page in the life of William Burroughs Sr and the main interest that I found in it, as I said, was the relationship between father and son. And on this point certain details have become clearer to me.
It will be seen as an utter understatement that William Burroughs Sr was not a model parent. The way of life he had chosen, if conducive of great and experimental literary works as it did, was no fit to raise a kid. We cannot imagine what the impact of the tragic end of Burroughs Jr’s mum, Joan Wollmer, can have had on a kid’s psyche. To me, using a loaded gun to play William Tell with your wife, even when both protagonists of the game are under the influence of substances, does qualify as domestic violence. However this violence and suffering is rarely noted when this type of incident surrounding the Beat movement are related and you find that they participate mainly in fuelling some sort of cult and mythology around it instead. The truth is, and heaven knows how much I like most of the literary output of this group, the truth is, to put it very very mildly, that the main actors of that Beat generation were a wholly irresponsible bunch of characters.
But back to the book, we find here, nonetheless, some proofs that we cannot fully accuse Burroughs Sr of all the evils suffered by his son.
The father's decision to leave custody of his son to the latter grandparents, for example, all things above considered, seem quite a smart and right decision, as far as giving his son some sort of stability is concerned. It would seem that William Burroughs Sr also did everything possible to help his son both financially and, through his influence, in the literary circles.
But what we read and understand, is that William Burroughs Jr never really took charge of himself and had an irrepressible tendency for self-destruction. I am no psychiatrist and there are obviously a lot of factors that made the author’s life what it was, but, sadly, his case is not unique. So why this book?
And it is clear to me that the only reason this book exists is because the author was the son of a prominent and cult literary figure. I mean, this is why I read it in the first place, but I now wish I had saved the time to read something else.
This may sound a bit harsh and cold a judgment and may also falsely hide an impression of infinite sadness and distress that transpires from the whole book.
But.
Sadness and self-pity: You get your fill of all that here.
As the autobiographical notes from the author were not sufficient to form a complete book, here we find a mixture between these notes, as well as letters and small notes about William Burroughs Jr written by his relatives or people who knew him.
The result is variably interesting with some brilliant passages or sentences at times. The contributors being mostly friends or relatives of William Burroughs Sr, such as James Grauerholz, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman and William Burroughs Sr himself, the interest we find in the book comes essentially from the fact that the author is the son of his father, William Seward Burroughs Sr and not from the author himself.
So yes, it is a book about the son of William Burroughs Sr.
What did William Burroughs Jr himself leave to posterity? to answer this question I may have to read Speed and Kentucky Ham, as, in my opinion, this book here is not it. Its only appeal being that it is rather an additional page in the life of William Burroughs Sr and the main interest that I found in it, as I said, was the relationship between father and son. And on this point certain details have become clearer to me.
It will be seen as an utter understatement that William Burroughs Sr was not a model parent. The way of life he had chosen, if conducive of great and experimental literary works as it did, was no fit to raise a kid. We cannot imagine what the impact of the tragic end of Burroughs Jr’s mum, Joan Wollmer, can have had on a kid’s psyche. To me, using a loaded gun to play William Tell with your wife, even when both protagonists of the game are under the influence of substances, does qualify as domestic violence. However this violence and suffering is rarely noted when this type of incident surrounding the Beat movement are related and you find that they participate mainly in fuelling some sort of cult and mythology around it instead. The truth is, and heaven knows how much I like most of the literary output of this group, the truth is, to put it very very mildly, that the main actors of that Beat generation were a wholly irresponsible bunch of characters.
But back to the book, we find here, nonetheless, some proofs that we cannot fully accuse Burroughs Sr of all the evils suffered by his son.
The father's decision to leave custody of his son to the latter grandparents, for example, all things above considered, seem quite a smart and right decision, as far as giving his son some sort of stability is concerned. It would seem that William Burroughs Sr also did everything possible to help his son both financially and, through his influence, in the literary circles.
But what we read and understand, is that William Burroughs Jr never really took charge of himself and had an irrepressible tendency for self-destruction. I am no psychiatrist and there are obviously a lot of factors that made the author’s life what it was, but, sadly, his case is not unique. So why this book?
And it is clear to me that the only reason this book exists is because the author was the son of a prominent and cult literary figure. I mean, this is why I read it in the first place, but I now wish I had saved the time to read something else.
April 22, 2013
This is one of the most devastating, passionate and depressing books i have ever read. It's full, from beginning to end, with absolutely devastating documentations of Billy's life. From shooting up 2 day old bloodied heroin and getting deadly sick on a train because of it, to passing out completely intoxicated in the back alley's of tucson. These sparse journal entires, memoirs and letters give you only a peak into the hard life of William S. Burroughs Jr. From shooting his best friend in the throat, to enduring a liver inducted comma, to having to deal with having a liver transplant in his early 30's, to having to deal with the memories of his mothers murder. But in light of these depressing stories, emerges the beauty of Billy Burroughs and his visions on life, society, drugs and death. I will leave you with a few quotes, for which i deeply enjoyed:
"Cold night droning on, i wandered hopeless into an alley without a dime, beaten, debilitated. Small alley to the side, a warehouse with rusted-shut doors. There, in the shivering cold, i found: (1) a mattress, (2) a heavy blanket, (3) a ratty pillow, (4) two magazines+a tract, (5) a filthy tarpaulin, (6) under the pillow two nip-bottles of 100-proof vodka, three cigarettes+some matches. First i cried, then i drank, then i read"
"Like many disturbed people, you don't know what's really the matter with them. You can't tell and they don't know."
"He told me that whenever he saw "normal, hard working, average, straight people" doing what they do- mowing lawns, going to the mailbox, driving home from work, playing with the kids, washing the car, sweeping leaves-it brought a huge lump of painful sorrow to his throat. He would think, "Look at those completely regular people! They're going about their business, getting by, having a pretty good time, not pondering the imponderables, especially late at night. And here i am-strung out, and i sincerely wish i wasn't. And i just know it'd be so great to be 'normal' like them, like other people! But i'm not. And just the fact that i know the difference and hang myself up worrying about it means I probably never can be. He said he sometimes wished he had gone by the book, never questioned a moronic rule of law, never considered any alternative life styles, never heard of dope, or expanded consciousness. He said, "think how comfortable and simple it'd be to know you were always doing the 'right thing' with validation everywhere you turned; all the mainstream magazines and TV shows and movies, and even church, for kris sakes!" Then he hunched his shoulders up to his ears- a gesture i'd seen him use before. It meant he was tense, uncomfortable. After a minute or two, he said, "Of course sometimes i think how great it would be to hike the length of hell in a pair of thin, paper bathhouse slippers." Then he slapped his knees, stood up, and said "I got seventy-three cents. You got enough so we could pool our funds and buy a pint of something stimulating?"
"Cold night droning on, i wandered hopeless into an alley without a dime, beaten, debilitated. Small alley to the side, a warehouse with rusted-shut doors. There, in the shivering cold, i found: (1) a mattress, (2) a heavy blanket, (3) a ratty pillow, (4) two magazines+a tract, (5) a filthy tarpaulin, (6) under the pillow two nip-bottles of 100-proof vodka, three cigarettes+some matches. First i cried, then i drank, then i read"
"Like many disturbed people, you don't know what's really the matter with them. You can't tell and they don't know."
"He told me that whenever he saw "normal, hard working, average, straight people" doing what they do- mowing lawns, going to the mailbox, driving home from work, playing with the kids, washing the car, sweeping leaves-it brought a huge lump of painful sorrow to his throat. He would think, "Look at those completely regular people! They're going about their business, getting by, having a pretty good time, not pondering the imponderables, especially late at night. And here i am-strung out, and i sincerely wish i wasn't. And i just know it'd be so great to be 'normal' like them, like other people! But i'm not. And just the fact that i know the difference and hang myself up worrying about it means I probably never can be. He said he sometimes wished he had gone by the book, never questioned a moronic rule of law, never considered any alternative life styles, never heard of dope, or expanded consciousness. He said, "think how comfortable and simple it'd be to know you were always doing the 'right thing' with validation everywhere you turned; all the mainstream magazines and TV shows and movies, and even church, for kris sakes!" Then he hunched his shoulders up to his ears- a gesture i'd seen him use before. It meant he was tense, uncomfortable. After a minute or two, he said, "Of course sometimes i think how great it would be to hike the length of hell in a pair of thin, paper bathhouse slippers." Then he slapped his knees, stood up, and said "I got seventy-three cents. You got enough so we could pool our funds and buy a pint of something stimulating?"
March 16, 2019
There is an element of "Poor me, poor me.... pour me another drink." Anyone familiar with alcoholics and drug addiction will recognise this refrain. Holds together fairly well despite its composite nature. Not sure how much interest it would be to those not already a student of the life and work of WSB (his father, that is).
February 26, 2013
Is she smart, so well-read
Are there books, are there novels by her bed?
And is she the sort that you've always said
Could satisfy your head? -nm
Okay, so you know how when someone you love lends you a book that they love and you, in turn, want to love that book too? So you can be all, "We have the same taste in literature, and our taste is superior." Especially when the book lender is smarter than you are.
I should have loved Cursed from Birth. No one loves a sad junkie tale more than I do. But just as Senior's Naked Lunch left me high and dry Junior followed suit, however, I've been told I should have read Speed and Kentucky Ham first - so I will and then maybe I'll have a change of heart. Not to sound harsh but Billy Jr. had ample opportunity; rich grandparents, a famous father, two extra livers, and people who loved and admired him but he was so busy playing the tortured artist bit he wasted a whole lot of time writing letters begging for money.
I'm not being the best reader right now anyway. I spend a lot of my day staring out the window thinking about you.
Are there books, are there novels by her bed?
And is she the sort that you've always said
Could satisfy your head? -nm
Okay, so you know how when someone you love lends you a book that they love and you, in turn, want to love that book too? So you can be all, "We have the same taste in literature, and our taste is superior." Especially when the book lender is smarter than you are.
I should have loved Cursed from Birth. No one loves a sad junkie tale more than I do. But just as Senior's Naked Lunch left me high and dry Junior followed suit, however, I've been told I should have read Speed and Kentucky Ham first - so I will and then maybe I'll have a change of heart. Not to sound harsh but Billy Jr. had ample opportunity; rich grandparents, a famous father, two extra livers, and people who loved and admired him but he was so busy playing the tortured artist bit he wasted a whole lot of time writing letters begging for money.
I'm not being the best reader right now anyway. I spend a lot of my day staring out the window thinking about you.
March 4, 2014
WOW! This is a sad book. It is the true story of Billy Burroughs, the son of the more famous William S. Burroughs, Sr. Billy died when he was in his early 30s, meaning he did have a rather short life.
Here's the unhappy part...Billy's dad (a drug addict) accidentally killed Billy's mom (also a drug addict and an alcoholic) when Billy was four. Billy spent the rest of his childhood with his paternal grandparents (a part of his life that actually seems rather happy). As an adult, Billy also becomes a drug addict and an alcoholic. He wears out his liver and has an emergency liver transplant to save his life. The drugs he has to take to keep his body from rejecting the liver make his life pretty miserable and he turns to alcohol for relief. Pretty soon he wears out his transplanted liver and he dies.
The story is told through Billy's own writing, so the reader gets Billy's thoughts, fears, and ideas in his own words. The story is also told through letters written to Billy by Bill, Sr., Allen Ginsburg, and other friends, as well as brief passages written by many of those same people after Billy's death.
I thought this books would be the story of the beats told through the eyes of a child, but really, it's the story of the aftermath of the beats told through the eyes of an adult.
I cannot stress enough how sad this book is.
Here's the unhappy part...Billy's dad (a drug addict) accidentally killed Billy's mom (also a drug addict and an alcoholic) when Billy was four. Billy spent the rest of his childhood with his paternal grandparents (a part of his life that actually seems rather happy). As an adult, Billy also becomes a drug addict and an alcoholic. He wears out his liver and has an emergency liver transplant to save his life. The drugs he has to take to keep his body from rejecting the liver make his life pretty miserable and he turns to alcohol for relief. Pretty soon he wears out his transplanted liver and he dies.
The story is told through Billy's own writing, so the reader gets Billy's thoughts, fears, and ideas in his own words. The story is also told through letters written to Billy by Bill, Sr., Allen Ginsburg, and other friends, as well as brief passages written by many of those same people after Billy's death.
I thought this books would be the story of the beats told through the eyes of a child, but really, it's the story of the aftermath of the beats told through the eyes of an adult.
I cannot stress enough how sad this book is.
March 10, 2025
Últimos años de la vida de Billy Jr., el hijo de William S. Burroughs quien, como él, también fue escritor, poeta y adicto a todo tipo de drogas, además de alcohólico. Murió con 34 años.
Normalmente los personajes autodestructivos que sólo relatan su decadencia me aburren un poco, sin embargo en este caso el editor parte de las notas que dejó escritas el propio Billy Jr. pero intercala correspondencia y comentarios de las personas de su entorno, con un resultado extraordinario. El terrible final de Billy Jr. me ha emocionado, así que me parece un libro muy bueno.
Normalmente los personajes autodestructivos que sólo relatan su decadencia me aburren un poco, sin embargo en este caso el editor parte de las notas que dejó escritas el propio Billy Jr. pero intercala correspondencia y comentarios de las personas de su entorno, con un resultado extraordinario. El terrible final de Billy Jr. me ha emocionado, así que me parece un libro muy bueno.
May 18, 2012
William Burroughs Jr. was an intelligent man and a very good writer (I'm looking forward to reading "Speed" and "Kentucky Ham," the two official books he wrote), but his demons, his inner turmoil, destroyed him. Such a tragedy.
June 6, 2009
love anything by William Burroughs Jr. this is no exception
August 17, 2023
«Estoy seguro de que aquí es donde se acaba todo para mí.»
November 20, 2019
This is a hybrid novel made from an unfinished work by William S. Burroughs Jr. (originally called Prakiti Junction), interviews with his father, Allen Ginsberg, and various other friends, plus a host of correspondence to and from the author. In it, we get a snapshot of a chronically unhappy person, a serial substance abuser, a slightly successful author, and one who felt himself always in the shadow of his more famous father. That patriarchal figure being the illustrious William Burroughs of Naked Lunch fame.
Cobbled together as it is from a host of unreliable narrators, we can only get a sliver of the truth behind his life. The facts all line up, but motivations are blurred. The tensions between father and son seem to be due to a lack of communication and that seems to stem from neither of them realizing that someone else could have a different point of view. I may be wrong in this, but both were heavy substance abusers and both seemed to have the “me-me-me” characteristics commonly associated with alcoholics and junkies. Or at least the son certainly did. He seemed to possess an infantile belief that everyone should be working harder to make life easier for them.
This book gives us a new vision of Burroughs Sr.. Many claim he had no real emotional connection to his son, but that doesn't seem to be entirely true. He helped his son financially, but in the long run his son refused to help himself. Burroughs Sr. himself stated he had no idea what to do.
Cobbled together as it is from a host of unreliable narrators, we can only get a sliver of the truth behind his life. The facts all line up, but motivations are blurred. The tensions between father and son seem to be due to a lack of communication and that seems to stem from neither of them realizing that someone else could have a different point of view. I may be wrong in this, but both were heavy substance abusers and both seemed to have the “me-me-me” characteristics commonly associated with alcoholics and junkies. Or at least the son certainly did. He seemed to possess an infantile belief that everyone should be working harder to make life easier for them.
This book gives us a new vision of Burroughs Sr.. Many claim he had no real emotional connection to his son, but that doesn't seem to be entirely true. He helped his son financially, but in the long run his son refused to help himself. Burroughs Sr. himself stated he had no idea what to do.
September 22, 2017
The dissolute life has its own fascination and this book, culled from William Burroughs Jr.'s journals, letters and contributions from the same from his equally dissolute though far more functional father and other Beat luminaries, is a fascinating look into the one particular dissolute life. From all reports, Burroughs Jr. shared some of his father's literary talent but is ability to harness that was thoroughly destroyed by a lifetime of alcoholism and, based on his own writings, an inability to establish himself as a functional adult. He comes across as a guy who would be fascinating to sit and drink with for an evening but who would then start showing up on your doorstep bearing gifts dug out of dumpster and then be pissed off that you did not help him solve the problems of his own making. A peek into the outcome of being the progeny of a famous Beat writer and valuable for that but you walk away from this book torn between pity and gratitude that you never met Burroughs Jr. at the local bar.
March 12, 2024
I wanted to read this after listening to a podcast about his father. It seems the son just had an awful life. His mother died accidentally (shot in the head by father), drug/alcohol abuse (his mother also popped pills/abused alcohol when pregnant) and just generally poor life decisions. He lived with his grandparents as a child. As an adult he just couldnt make the right choices; he had family and friends who mostly sent him money and gave support but he just kept abusing alcohol until his liver gave out. He was given one of the first liver transplants which resulted in an abdominal abscess that left a gaping, stinking hole in his stomach. He soon went back to drinking fortified beer and living as a homeless person. One thing to keep in mind was this book was completed after he died and compiled from letters, his own collected scrawls on napkins etc and testimony from acquaintances, friends and his father.
May 26, 2024
This book is an enormous bummer and somehow also one of the truest things I've ever read about the Beat generation. What happens when the benzedrine runs out and you've spent decades at the drink? This is what happens. I've wondered about Burroughs Sr. before - what was he like as a guy, and seeing his relationship with his son is sobering and scary. A lot of these people needed hugs (and less drugs). Billy Burroughs really was cursed from birth.
Edit: to consider the substance at slightly greater length, Burroughs Jr. did have a way with words - similar to Senior's sort of jangling mishmash of impressions and clever idioms and abbreviations. There's a mind there, made of more than drugs, and the few pages of really lucid prose in the book do show it.
Edit: to consider the substance at slightly greater length, Burroughs Jr. did have a way with words - similar to Senior's sort of jangling mishmash of impressions and clever idioms and abbreviations. There's a mind there, made of more than drugs, and the few pages of really lucid prose in the book do show it.
November 1, 2020
A glimpse into the world of legendary Beat Writers — and the sad tragedy of Billy Burroughs, aka “Son of Naked Lunch.” Billy never has a real shot at mental health. The tragedy of his mother’s accidental death at the hands of his father, a lifetime of bad influences, his alcoholism which resulted in a liver replacement, and his ultimate demise. But the book does give a prolonged glimpse into the development of a fine writer, and into Billy’s relationships within the Beat community.
September 14, 2022
Since I finished this book I have been left with a melancholy heart shaped ache. Billy’s writing is very real and without censor, the way he uses words to shape a feeling has left me in awe and inspired but also I’m am left with the inevitable blow of this harsh world. I am grateful he was a writer, I am grateful for his perspective, I am grateful for his short time on this earthly plane.
May 29, 2017
Una novela que te hace sentir incómodo. Reconozco que he pasado la segunda mitad del libro deseando que el autor muriese cuanto antes, siendo tanto sufrimiento y desgracia bastante inaguantables.
October 6, 2017
I first read this a decade ago. It's very sad. Jr must have been able the most self-destructive writer who ever lived.
December 29, 2019
This was sad, really sad. The poor guy never stood a chance, doomed from birth you could say.
August 24, 2021
This is a different sort of biography than I have ever read, consisting of passages from an unfinished autobiographical novel, oral history, and compilation of letters, all telling the story of William S. Burroughs, Jr. I did not know, for a while, that Burroughs had a son, and it seems insane that he did and it is not all that surprising that his son's life turned out the way he did, marred by substance abuse and constantly at a remove from his distant, somewhat caring but ultimately heartless father. This is a fascinating life, and a very hard, gruesome and painful one. Sometimes we might fantasize about what it would be like to have famous parents, where money would not be an issue and we could get pretty much any job we wanted by dint of their reputation. Well, that is far from the case here, but perhaps that is just because writers do not make a ton of money (putting aside the fact that there was a Burroughs family fortune, which gave his father the intellectual space to do his work, which likely provided more than sufficient income). The book is simply littered with trauma. There are often conversations about whether to consider the life of the artist in assessing their work, because we do not want to celebrate monsters in our culture. Many will praise Burroughs for many years due to his "outsider/insider" status and revolutionary contributions to [a type of] literature [that is basically unreadable], and while he is not an unbridled monster, adherents of this view of criticism should find plenty to cancel. They say that many writers view their books as their children. Well, some of Burroughs's books are enfant terribles, and one wishes that he had put more work into parenting, for that may have elevated his subject matter. There is an argument that Junior was beyond repair, but that is no excuse when a parent's love should be unconditional, and when that parent's life is rather insulated from financial desperation and existential despair.
http://flyinghouses.blogspot.com/2008...
http://flyinghouses.blogspot.com/2008...
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June 25, 2007Born in 1947 to the writer William S. Burroughs and his common-law wife Joan Vollmer, William S. Burroughs, Jr. (known as Billy Jr.), would later describe himself as "your cursed-from-birth son." Cursed From Birth is a testimony to the difficulty of living in the turbulent wake of a famous father his famous and troubled friends, and a lucid, shattering depiction of a life going down the tubes.
Raised by his paternal grandparents in Palm Beach after his mother was killed by his father in a shooting accident, Billy saw his father become suddenly famous for Naked Lunch just as he became a teenager. Billy Jr.'s short life was defined by creating trouble to catch the attention of his father, mourning the death of his mother, descending into alcoholism and drug addiction, and reckoning with it all by beginning his own literary endeavors.
Compiled by writer David Ohle from Burroughs Jr.'s third and unfinished novel Prakriti Junction, his last journals and poems, and correspondence and conversations with those who knew Billy, Cursed from Birth is faithful to Billy's own intentions for a last artistic effort. With the sufferings — but not the patience — of Job, Billy Burroughs's life illustrates the fall of one "whom the gods would destroy". Cursed from Birth is the funny, tragic, angry, and stunning final statement from William S. Burroughs, Jr. — a casualty of the Beat generation.
Originally scheduled for publication in May 2001 by Grove/Atlantic, but withdrawn for legal reasons, the galleys that were distributed now sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars.
Raised by his paternal grandparents in Palm Beach after his mother was killed by his father in a shooting accident, Billy saw his father become suddenly famous for Naked Lunch just as he became a teenager. Billy Jr.'s short life was defined by creating trouble to catch the attention of his father, mourning the death of his mother, descending into alcoholism and drug addiction, and reckoning with it all by beginning his own literary endeavors.
Compiled by writer David Ohle from Burroughs Jr.'s third and unfinished novel Prakriti Junction, his last journals and poems, and correspondence and conversations with those who knew Billy, Cursed from Birth is faithful to Billy's own intentions for a last artistic effort. With the sufferings — but not the patience — of Job, Billy Burroughs's life illustrates the fall of one "whom the gods would destroy". Cursed from Birth is the funny, tragic, angry, and stunning final statement from William S. Burroughs, Jr. — a casualty of the Beat generation.
Originally scheduled for publication in May 2001 by Grove/Atlantic, but withdrawn for legal reasons, the galleys that were distributed now sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars.
May 29, 2011
This is an emotionally devastating book. I knew it was going to be bleak but it turned out to be far more depressing than I had thought. Stitched together from bits and pieces of writing left behind, Cursed From Birth chronicles the spiral of self destruction that lead to Billy Burroughs liver transplant and eventually his death. It is structured not unlike a documentary film, pieces of Billy's writing are interspersed with quotes about him from various people in his life, as well as letters to and from Billy throughout his troubles. The picture they draw is one of alienation, depression and an all consuming self loathing that destroyed a talented young writer's life.
While it's hard to empathize with a person who continually harms himself and refuses to take the steps required to get their shit together, it's easy to identify with Billy's hopelessness. The urge to give up. Whether it's to allow a serious illness to consume us or to give up on some piece of work we're plugging away on, we've all felt the desire to throw in the towel. That's Billy Burroughs in a nutshell. There's just no fight left in him. The specter of death follows him wherever he goes and he knows it's only a matter of time before he's gone.
What he left behind is a stunning insight on the nature of suffering and an important coda to his previous work. This is the end, the real no-shit end, of his perpetual mental and physical self abuse; a liver the size of Baltimore; a suppurating wound in the middle of his abdomen; dying in squalor.
While it's hard to empathize with a person who continually harms himself and refuses to take the steps required to get their shit together, it's easy to identify with Billy's hopelessness. The urge to give up. Whether it's to allow a serious illness to consume us or to give up on some piece of work we're plugging away on, we've all felt the desire to throw in the towel. That's Billy Burroughs in a nutshell. There's just no fight left in him. The specter of death follows him wherever he goes and he knows it's only a matter of time before he's gone.
What he left behind is a stunning insight on the nature of suffering and an important coda to his previous work. This is the end, the real no-shit end, of his perpetual mental and physical self abuse; a liver the size of Baltimore; a suppurating wound in the middle of his abdomen; dying in squalor.
July 24, 2009
Billy Burroughs had contracted to write a third novel after Speed and Kentucky Ham called Prakriti Junction (meaning of title unknown to me), but his death from liver transplant failure due to heavy drinking came too suddenly for him to fulfill it. Cursed From Birth is his notes on that unfinished project spliced together with his post-mortem after-effects, plus commentary from witnesses of his tragic decline. The result is starkly reflective of his mental deterioration towards the end. It's kind of a hard read, but as a fan, I felt obligated, and I'm glad I did.
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-83...
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-83...
September 17, 2007
Reading this book made my heart ache for the son of the notorious Bill Buroughs. This diary of his tumultous upbringing lets the reader empathize with him while making his father seem even seedier than he portrayed himself in Junky and Queer. I wonder how anyone could avoid addiction when born to two addicts, one of which is shot to death by the other.
January 15, 2008
not as good as i thought it would be. compiled from notes after his death.
May 23, 2008
one of the great boks, for those who might be confused this is about Billy Burroughs not his junky famous father. compiled by the preternatural David Ohle
October 3, 2012
What an incredibly sad book.
May 8, 2014
Abnormally morbid life. He died in my hometown and his heart therefore belongs to me.
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