“垮掉的一代”教父：威廉·巴勒斯传

by Phil Baker, 菲尔·贝克, 张凤 (Translator)

威廉·巴勒斯是“垮掉的一代”中的代表人物之一，与杰克·凯鲁亚克和艾伦·金斯堡齐名，哈佛英语系博士，家世显赫。祖父威廉·西沃德·巴勒斯是“加算机”的发明者，母亲是南北战争时期南军统帅罗伯特·李的嫡系后裔，舅舅艾维·李则是美国公共关系学鼻祖。

在《“垮掉的一代”教父：威廉·巴勒斯传》中，菲尔·贝克追溯了巴勒斯的一生——从20世纪40年代纽约下层社会的生活、墨西哥与南美丛林、丹吉尔与创作《裸体午餐》、巴黎与“垮掉”的旅馆、20世纪60年代的伦敦……一直到堪萨斯州的小城。菲尔从巴勒斯的经历发生地找寻贴切的线索，研究了大量的一手资料，深度挖掘巴勒斯脆弱的情感世界和对其影响深远的友情经历，对巴勒斯的一生进行了深入而有力的解读。

Genres: Biography

236 pages, Hardcover

First published July 15, 2010

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, first of all, you can't go wrong with the Reaktion Books' "Critical Lives" series. They are biographies on 'difficult 19th and 20th century thinkers/artists/writers, but told lightly in the manner of not going over someone's head with too much critical theory speak. And they don't preach, and for sure doesn't talk down the subject matter. In other words they're great. I actually like these small biographies then the big one's that are out there on the same subject.

So what we have here that is new is the William S. Burroughs biography. One who follows the old titan of paranoia won't get anything new, but what Phil Baker does is put the whole picture in a frame that is pretty much essential to anyone who wants to dip his or her toes into the world of Burroughs.

In my youth Burroughs was a favorite of mine. I liked the pictures of him (always cool lookin'), and the deadpan delivery of his words and voice. Also the fact that he took the high in art/history with the lowest of the low (heroin culture, his love of trash Sci-fi novels, scandal sheets, and the stuff that American culture threw away in the trash).

But also a lot of the stuff that he threw out there had some great truth as well as pure crap. I also love the fact that he was pretty much of a failure till his late 40's. I admire that in a man! What troubles me about him is the shooting of his wife, the way he treated his son, and his love of guns. However you look at it, its pretty idiotic to play William Tell with a living person. An ugly incident, which through his guilt made him the writer that he became - or is that true?

In the end he became an icon for an era that no longer existed, which is understandable - but sad as well. So like everything else in the 20th Century you have to take the sugar as well as the bitters, and Burroughs was a major player as a writer. Good bio!

[Jim Nowhere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best Burroughs Bio I’ve read, but also not the worst. a much quicker read then others and worth diving into. You won’t find much for new information or insights, but you will feel better about having the Miles biography on your shelf and probably start leafing through it to round out and fill in the story.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baker's Burroughs bio adds little to the existing collection (Miles, Morgan etc) but is a great read in and of itself. It ties the author's life to his work and helps make sense of novels that most people just admit they can't understand. Importantly, this book is now on Kindle, unlike ANY of the other Burroughs bios. Definitely worth a read for Burroughs fans.

[Lyell Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very excellent biography. The fat is trimmed off of the edges.

[David Corvine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as detailed as the Morgan or Miles biographies but very readable.