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| AUTHOR: | Barry Miles |
| CATEGORY: | Book |
| MANUFACTURER: | Hyperion Books |
| ISBN: | 1562828487 |
| TYPE: | 1914-, 20th century, Biography, Biography / Autobiography, Biography/Autobiography, Burroughs, William - Prose & Criticism, Burroughs, William S.,, General, Novelists, American, Burroughs, William S |
| MEDIA: | Hardcover |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
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Customer Reviews of William Burroughs: El Hombre Invisible
Definitive exploration of writing life This was the first biography of Burroughs I read; I also have the Ted Morgan biography, but I don't think a direct qualitative comparison is possible. While Morgan goes into enormous biographical detail, Miles puts Burroughs' work in central position, and his analyses are really perceptive and thorough, with demonstrative use of passages from the text as well as references to relevant events in Burroughs' life. It is, as other reviewers have said, really the best existing introduction to Burroughs' work - I don't know if I could have made it through the cut-up trilogy without the preparation of reading this book first.
I should also point out that some biographical details are here which are not in Morgan, e.g. the use of real names where Morgan substituted pseudonyms.
written by Burroughs' best friend?
Miles' biography is intended for the general reader. There is good background on Burroughs' childhood, a good bit of biographical detail throughout, and the book doesn't delve into the written works all too deeply. Being one of three general biographies written about Burroughs, it bears comparing to the books by Ted Morgan and Graham Caveney. Miles' book is not as scholarly or exhaustive as Morgan's book, Literary Outlaw, but is both more scholarly and more exhaustive than Caveney's, Gentleman Junkie. It was written after Literary Outlaw, so there is more information on the Kansas years here, including a chapter entitled "Shotgun Art".
This is a biography intended for a general readership. Miles' familiarity with his subject may make this of interest even to the Burroughs beginner. There is a bibliography of works written by Burroughs (but none about him), and an index.
Miles seems to be Burroughs' biggest fan. This is not a critical appraisal of Burroughs OR his works. At times the writing is very bad. Still, Miles had the advantage of a fascinating subject.
If you haven't read a book about Burroughs before, read Literary Outlaw, by Ted Morgan, and pass this one up.
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