Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs is a collection of diary entries made by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs between November 16, 1996, and July 30, 1997, only a few days before his death on August 2 at the age of 83. The collection was first published in hardcover by Grove Press in 2000 and was edited by Burroughs' longtime assistant, James Grauerholz.
This final collection of writings by Burroughs was transcribed from mostly hand-written journal entries that were often difficult to decipher. Burroughs chronicles his thoughts about his approaching mortality, particularly in the wake of the death of his longtime friend Allen Ginsberg on April 5, 1997, and the passing of several beloved pets. He also expresses his feelings about political issues of the day such as the War on Drugs, and mentions being wryly amused at living in one of the cities destroyed by nuclear weapons in the TV movie The Day After (1983).
His final entry describes love as "the most natural painkiller what there is."
The book concludes with a section of annotations by Grauerholz describing events in Burroughs' life at the time of the journal entries, along with explanations for some references and people mentioned in the entries.
Several of these journal entries, including his last one, were initially published in a 1998 issue of The New Yorker.
Grove Press, the publishers of the book, had a long history with Burroughs dating back to the early 1960s when they published the first North American edition of Naked Lunch, sparking a landmark obscenity case.
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.
Kathy Acker was an American experimental novelist, playwright, essayist, and postmodernist writer, known for her idiosyncratic and transgressive writing that dealt with themes such as childhood trauma, sexuality and rebellion. She was influenced by the Black Mountain School poets, William S. Burroughs, David Antin, Carolee Schneeman, Eleanor Antin, French critical theory, mysticism, and pornography, as well as classic literature.
William Seward Burroughs II was an American writer and visual artist, credited as a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular culture and literature. Burroughs wrote eighteen novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays, and five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians and made many appearances in films. He was also briefly known by the pen name William Lee. Burroughs created and exhibited thousands of paintings and other visual artworks, including his celebrated 'Shotgun Art'.
Naked Lunch is a 1959 novel by American writer William S. Burroughs. The book is structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes. Burroughs stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order. The reader follows the narration of junkie William Lee, who takes on various aliases, from the U.S. to Mexico, eventually to Tangier and the dreamlike Interzone.
Joan Vollmer was an influential participant in the early Beat Generation circle. While a student at Barnard College, she became the roommate of Edie Parker. Their apartment became a gathering place for the Beats during the 1940s, where Vollmer was often at the center of marathon, all-night discussions. In 1946, she began a relationship with William S. Burroughs, later becoming his common-law wife. In 1951, Burroughs killed Vollmer. He claimed, and shortly thereafter denied, the killing was a drunken attempt at playing William Tell.
John Burroughs was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was Wake-Robin in 1871.
Last words are a person's final words spoken before death.
William Seward Burroughs III was an American novelist, also known as William S. Burroughs Jr. and Billy Burroughs. He bears the name of both his father and his great-grandfather, William Seward Burroughs I, the original inventor of the Burroughs adding machine. He wrote three novels, two of which were published as Speed (1970) and Kentucky Ham (1973). His third novel, Prakriti Junction, begun in 1977, was never completed, although extracts from it were included in his third and final published work Cursed From Birth.
James Grauerholz is a writer and editor. He is the bibliographer and literary executor of the estate of William S. Burroughs.
Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. He partnered with Richard Seaver to bring French literature to the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its publisher, Morgan Entrekin, merged with Grove Press in 1991. Grove later became an imprint of the publisher Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Los Alamos Ranch School was a private ranch school for boys in the northeast corner of Sandoval County, New Mexico, USA, founded in 1917 near San Ildefonso Pueblo. During World War II, the school was bought and converted into the secret nuclear research campus for Project Y. The surrounding location has developed into the town of Los Alamos.
And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks is a novel by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. It was written in 1945, a full decade before the two authors became famous as leading figures of the Beat Generation, and remained unpublished until 2008.
Interzone is a collection of short stories and other early works by William S. Burroughs from 1953 to 1958. The collection was first published by Viking Penguin in 1989, although several of the stories had already been printed elsewhere, including an earlier publication titled Early Routines. The title was inspired by the International Zone in Tangiers, Morocco, where Burroughs lived for a time and by which he was greatly influenced.
Ali's Smile: Naked Scientology is a collection of essays and a short story by American Beat writer William S. Burroughs (1914–97). First published in 1971 as the short story "Ali's Smile", the book eventually contained a group of previously published newspaper articles as well, all of which address Scientology. Burroughs had been interested in Scientology throughout the 1960s, believing that its methods might help combat a controlling society. He joined the Church of Scientology later in the decade. However, he became disenchanted with the authoritarian nature of the organization. In 1970 Burroughs had published a "considered statement" on Scientology's methods because he felt they were significant enough to warrant commentary. These pieces were later gathered together into Ali's Smile: Naked Scientology, which religious studies scholar Hugh B. Urban describes as a "nonscholarly popular exposé of Scientology". Burroughs's texts argue that while some of Scientology's therapies are worthwhile, the dogmatic nature of the group and its secrecy are harmful.
The Burroughs File is a collection of short fiction and non-fiction writings by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs covering a period of more than 20 years. The collection was first published in 1984.
Ghost of Chance is a novella by William S. Burroughs. The story was first published in 1991 in a special limited edition by the Library Fellows of the Whitney Museum of American Art; this was followed by a mass market hardcover edition in 1995 by High Risk Books and a paperback edition published after Burroughs' death.
Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus is a children's novel by "James Otis", the pen name of James Otis Kaler.
This is a bibliography of the works of William S. Burroughs.
Ira Silverberg is an editor and consultant to writers, artists, publishers, funders, and non-profit arts organizations. He is a member of the adjunct faculty of the Columbia University School of the Arts, MFA Writing Program.
Burroughs: The Movie is a 1983 documentary film directed by Howard Brookner about the beat generation writer William S. Burroughs.
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