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List Price: $13.95Amazon.com's Price: $11.16 You Save: $2.79 (20%)as of 11/22/2009 18:34 EST
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781933368382
ISBN: 1933368381
Label: Soft Skull Press
Manufacturer: Soft Skull Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: October 01, 2006
Publisher: Soft Skull Press
Studio: Soft Skull Press
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Being the son of counter-culture author William S. Burroughs is bound to be a trial. After all, the man who frequented lesbian dives and had a fascination with firearms couldn't possibly make that great of a father. Perhaps inevitably, William Jr. (called Billy) referred to himself as "cursed from birth" and in the book of the same name editor David Ohle collects parts of Billy's third and unfinished novel Prakriti Junction, his last journals and poems, and correspondence and conversations to recreate this tortured life. Endowed with the sufferings — but not the patience — of Job, Billy's life was often characterized by tragedy and frustration, although there were also pockets of success and levity. More than just the memoir of a casualty of the Beat Generation, Cursed From Birth provides rare insight in Billy's father, as well as his scene, friends, and times. It also provides an all-too-familiar story of familial difficulties that anyone with difficult parents can understand and appreciate.
Average Rating: 
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I read all of William S. Burroughs' work growing up and I always wondered what must have happened to his poor son. Until now. This book literally brought me to tears the first time I read it. Billy's take on his childhood and adolescence was revolting. He writes beautifully, probably better than his father, but you can tell he was so emotionally stunted that he was incapable of really getting it together. I feel for him, I really do, and I can't believe people die in such a way that he did.
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Billy was a friend of mine.I knew him at Green Valley School in Orange City, Fla. in 1972 and afterwards until his death in 1981. I think this book tells his story the way he would like. Literary Outlaw is the other good bio of Bill Burroughs, Sr. in which Billy's life is well told. Read both of these books and you will know the Burroughs. The old man was a genius and a great writer but a lousy father. The son was cursed from birth(that title is something Billy wrote himself and signed a letter with ... Read More
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As his contemporary, I never met Billy, but now I feel as I have. I grew up in the same circles and understand the difficulty of being surrounded by famous writers. He tells what it was like growing up beat. All beat aficiandos need to read this. Put it in the highschool library. I wish I had published it.
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"Speed" is this writer's best book in my opinion. But anything from Burroughs Jr. is worth waiting for.
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"Cursed from birth" is incredibly sad and brilliantly written.
David Ohle did a great job editing and compiling Billy's letters and manuscript pages into a coherent narrative that deals with the second half of Burroughs Jr's tragically short life (marriage, constant travel, alcoholism, transplant surgery)
The events described by Billy are often supplimented by testimonials from Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs Sr. that sometimes provide a contrast to Billy's take but always enhance ... Read More
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Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781933368382
ISBN: 1933368381
Label: Soft Skull Press
Manufacturer: Soft Skull Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: October 01, 2006
Publisher: Soft Skull Press
Studio: Soft Skull Press