Personal encounters with one of the most influential and iconic figures of the Beat Generation During the 1970s, William Burroughs, author of Junky and Naked Lunch, lived in a loft on the Bowery in New York City's Lower East Side. Christened The Bunker, his apartment became a modern-day literary salon with people like Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Susan Sontag, and fellow beat poet Allen Ginsberg passing through for a drink or a joint and the promise of stimulating conversation with the ingenious and eccentric Burroughs. Among Burroughs's entourage was author Victor Bockris, whose tape recorder was always running to capture meandering dinner party conversations and electric late-night sessions in the Bunker. In these moments, Bockris captures Burroughs's desires, anxieties, and thoughts on writing, photography, punk rock, and more. The recordings and recollections in With William Burroughs create an unprecedentedly multidimensional portrait of a man who is often overshadowed by his reputation.
"What's revealed by the subjects themselves makes this book worth reading."
The Portland Mercury on Beat Punks
"Praise for Victor Bockris Victor Bockris is a brilliant young writer. . . . He types like Van Cliburn plays the piano. He's always tape recording and taking pictures. I can't keep up with him."
Andy Warhol
"Bockris's real talents are his instincts. . . . . [He] casually fires off interesting questions about the politics of the time, drugs, and sex, without resorting to the usual interview clichés. . . . An entertaining, revealing, and celebratory look at the heroes of our recent past."
