Along with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs (1914 97) is an iconic figure of the Beat generation. In William S. Burroughs, Phil Baker investigates this cult writer s life and work from small-town Kansas to New York in the 40s, Mexico and the South American jungle, to Tangier and the writing of Naked Lunch, to Paris and the Beat Hotel, and 60s London alongside Burrough s self-portrayal as an explorer of inner space, reporting back from the frontiers of experience.

After accidentally shooting his wife in 1951, Burroughs felt his destiny as a writer...