Burroughs, William S.; Casale, Gerald V.; di Prima, Diane; Giorno, John; Gysin, Brion; Vale, V.

Burroughs and Friends: Lost Interviews

ISBN: 9781889307251
San Francisco, CA: RE/Search Publications, 2019. First Edition. Softcover. "For the first time in print, these forgotten conversations are now hereby available for your reading pleasure. From the beaches of Morocco to a penthouse in France; to London, San Francisco and Kansas- now you can vicariously relive the experiences and tribulations of five of the previous century's free thinkers and inventors of culture: W(illiam) S. Burroughs and friends." (back cover) A collection of rare, heretofore unpublished interviews with William S. Burroughs, Founding Father of the Beat Generation, among the foremost literary & cultural figures of all time; as well as some of his key collaborator-acolytes for whom WSB was a gigantic influence (as with so many through the current generation & counting). Edited & with an introduction by V. Vale, the chief Editor/ Publisher of RE/Search, the legendary alternative publisher. The collection begins with two interviews of WSB himself, the first conducted at RE/Search headquarters during the early 1980s; the second, subtitled "The Final Interview," conducted by Vale at WSB's Lawrence, Kansas home in late April of 1997- only slightly over three months before his death on August 2 of that year. Following are an interview with primary Beat poet Diane di Prima conducted by Vale in 2005; with Gerald Casale (of DEVO fame) conducted by Vale in which he describes his interviewing WSB for Trouser Press magazine during 1982; with Brion Gysin, WSB's best friend, most important colleague & co-inventor of the Cut-Up writing methods, conducted by Vale during early 1985; & with John Giorno, the avant-garde poet-entrepreneur & proprietor of the famous "Bunker" where WSB lived in NYC, conducted by Vale in 1986. All of these interviews are heavily if not exclusively devoted to the subjects' experiences with & impressions of WSB. The longest, with Gysin, is full of myriad, fascinating anecdotes going all the way back to the original Surrealist group in Paris during the 1930s. With reproductions of rarely seen photographs throughout. Alas, all the contributors here except for Casale & Vale are long- or recently deceased, but their conversations & insights are immortalized in this most important Beat-&-Beyond volume. Trade-format softcover original, first edition, No. 17 in publisher's series. An indispensable collection of great benefit to scholar-devotees of WSB & his milieu. In very fine condition with only a bit of rubbing & faint scratching to glossy front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps at corners of a few page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #4240]

Price: $45.00