William S. Burroughs on Drugs (junkie) Lit (lecture & interv. excerpts)

• Report rights infringement
• published: 28 Dec 2014
• views: 2548

Burroughs speaks here of his fave drugs (opiates) literature by addict authors Alex Trocchi,Jean Cocteau,&Thomas De Quincey. Plus he talks of his own books, "Junky," & "Naked Lunch." He reads his fave passage from De Quincey's "Confessions of an English Opium Eater," an amusing passage about Samuel Taylor Coleridge who,like De Quincey,was an addict to laudanum (opium dissolved in alcohol).This audio's excerpted from several sources: a 1979 Naropa lecture series, "Creative Reading;" a BBC doc, "Alexander Trocchi, A Life in Pieces;" & a CBC TV 1977 interv. Trocchi (1925 - 1984), novelist, a contemporary & friend of Burroughs, was a Scotsman who became a lifelong heroin addict in Paris, & then moved to the U.S.A. in the 1950s. He wrote his "Cain's Book" on addiction, published in 1960. Facing serious drug charges in the U.S. in the early 1960s,he jumped bail,escaping first to Canada,& then was smuggled aboard a steamer to Scotland. Norman Mailer&others; helped him escape the U.S., &Leonard Cohen helped his escape from Canada to Scotland, including, according to one account, Cohen providing a huge supply of demerol to keep the addict "fixed" during the ship journey.Leonard saved the day. Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963), French poet, novelist, play write, painter,&filmmaker;,a dedicated opium smoker much of his adult life,wrote the first draft of his "Opium, Diary of a Cure"(published 1930) while he was in a sanitarium withdrawing from opium.Like Burroughs, his cures were but temporary and he'd return to his drug of choice. De Quincey (1785 - 1859) too was a long-term addict of opium (in the form of laudanum). The essayist published his famous book on his own addiction, "Confessions of an English Opium Eater" in 1821, later issuing a revised, greatly expanded version of his book in 1856. The passage Burroughs reads here is from De Quincey's 1856 revised edition. It doesn't appear in the 1821 edition. The passage concerns Coleridge's (1772 - 1834), not De Quincey's, reported attempts to curb his own laudanum addiction, attempts so half-hearted & inept they're amusing, as Burroughs points out. Coleridge is an interesting case. He started out with a successful career as a poet. "Kubla Khan" & "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" are his most famous poems. "Kubla Khan" was based on a dream he had that's said to have been opium induced.At some point he found himself permanently unable to write poetry any more,became dedicated to philosophy instead,&wrote; books on philosophy from then on.One theory has it his opium use may have helped inspire some poetry,but as his addiction deepened opium may have eventually helped rob him of his poetic talents while opening the way for philosophical thought,instead. Note De Quincey's piece Burroughs reads refers several times to Coleridge as "Transcendental Philosopher." ......................................................................... [Here's text of De Quincey's piece Burroughs reads. Note Burroughs shortens the long last sentence, & changes the end to "....get out of my way."]: QUOTE: It is notorious that in Bristol (to that I can speak myself,but probably in many other places) he (Coleridge) went so far as to hire men "porters, hackney-coachmen, and others" to oppose by force his entrance into any druggist's shop. But,as the authority for stopping him was derived simply from himself, naturally these poor men found themselves in a metaphysical fix, not provided for even by Thomas Aquinas or by the prince of Jesuitical casuists.And in this excruciating dilemma would occur such scenes as the following: "0h, sir," would plead the suppliant porter, suppliant,yet semi-imperative (for equally if he did and if he did not show fight, the poor man's daily 5s. seemed endangered) "really you must not; consider, sir, your wife and-" Transcendental Philosopher: "Wife! what wife?I have no wife." Porter: "But, really now,you must not, sir. Didn't you say no longer ago than yesterday " Transcend. Philos: "Pooh, pooh! yesterday is a long time ago. Are you aware, my man,that people are known to have dropped down dead for timely want of opium?" Porter: "Ay,but you tell't me not to hearken " Transcend. Philos: "Oh, nonsense!An emergency, a shocking emergency, has arisen,quite unlooked for.No matter what I told you in times long past.That which I now tell you is that,if you don't remove that arm of yours from the doorway of this most respectable druggist,I shall have a good ground of action against you for assault and battery."