The letters of William S. Burroughs
Subtitle: 1945-1959
By: edited and with an introduction by Oliver Harris.
Contributors: Harris, Oliver C. G.
Edition: 1st
Publisher: Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA
Published: 1993
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 472
Subjects: Burroughs, William S., 1914-  -- Correspondence.; Authors, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence.
First sentence: July 24, 1945
Dear Allen,
    I thank you for your card which I was happy to receive on returning from a business trip to Chicago.
Description: A dozen or so letters to Jack Kerouac, several to Paul Bowles, Neal Cassaday and others, but the overwhelming bulk are to Allen Ginsberg. From the back cover: "Beginning as surprisingly formal notes from the road to his friends Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, the letters gradually deepen in substance and style. Then, in Tangier, comes a dramatic shift in voice and vision [culminating] in the explosive, distinctive letters that will become NAKED LUNCH. Letters were lifelines for Burroughs the outcast and works in progress for Burroughs the writer . . . ."
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.