William Burroughs

Repackaged and refreshed, this seminal biography of a counter-cultural icon is re-issued to form a core part of the Virgin backlist: '[Miles's] mastery of Beat Generation know-how must surely be unrivalled.' Sunday Telegraph

Iconoclast; visionary; homosexual crusader; drug advocate; teacher and elder statesman to the Beats: William Burroughs remains one of the most complex and controversial American writers of the twentieth century. This title presents an unconventional biography of this legendary provocateur and all-round thorn in the side of the establishment.

Iconoclast; visionary; homosexual crusader; drug advocate; teacher and elder statesman to the Beats: William Burroughs remains one of the most complex and controversial American writers of the twentieth century.

After killing his wife in a bizarre shooting accident, Burroughs moved to Tangier where he lived in a male brothel and wrote his celebrated bestseller Naked Lunch - in Newsweek's words 'A masterpiece. A cry from Hell' and spent much of the rest of his life in self-imposed exile from the United States. Following Burroughs' death in August 1997, Barry Miles updated his riveting, highly readable and unconventional biography of this legendary provocateur and all-round thorn in the side of the establishment.