William S. Burroughs on his Cut-Up Method of Writing

Interview conducted by John Walters for ''Walters Week''. Broadcast - 11-11- 1982.
One of his most popular novels: Naked Lunch: amzn.to/3xoJcbz
His debut novel:Junky: amzn.to/39d6KYW
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[@carlodave9]

David Bowie sponged WB's blackout/cutout technique to great effect. Even when he was most out of control (or most in control) his lyrics remained weirdly accessible and untouchable at the same time. The Sweet Thing/Candidate suite on Diamond Dogs is a whirlwind of cutout brilliance. There's nothing like WB's scrapbooks though. His brain was negotiating with some kind of unholy (dis)order to create them, that's for sure.

[@thestinkycheeseman2208]

Kurt Cobain used the method too.

[@pena.3302]

David Always Gave Credit to.W.S.B.Kubrick.et al.@'1st glance had thought you have been Watching those gawd Awful.dirty heresay tabloidesque.clips.Then Actually read.again to see what i feel your saying.IE;Bowie Understood.The Balance /Zeigeist.Zenology..Bowie..He'Sure knew stuff.that berlin era.W/-'Iggy.Was There.if you'd like to hear more on that.?@Broken record pod..w/-Ruc Rubin.&,Iggy.[Its a 2pt.But The q's R.R.asks' "Youve influnenced many..Who influenced you"!😊

[@lotusflower8]

I immediately remember Naked Lunch. Then, almost as quickly, I remember learning that he accidentally shot his wife in the face. He was an amazing writer with an interesting life. It's heartbreaking how he struggled with guilt and remorse for most of his life.

[@aoznes]

great channel

[@cervenypes123]

Well one can flip a coin

[@lawsonj39]

A lot of Pound's Cantos read like cut-ups, too, come to think of it.

[@robertqualls8498]

Now that you point it out, you are right. Bits of Florentine military history, Roman letters, etc.

[@koiboy9050]

absolutely

[@realmediummike]

What a genius

[@kahansudev5937]

I was just thinking about how Junky was a waste of my money and this video appears. Still love his music albums and will read naked lunch, but junky sucked

[@TheRubberStudiosASMR]

Naked lunch is hilarious- but it is extremely hard to read.

[@SubconsciousGatherer]

What about JUNKY sucked?

[@kahansudev5937]

@@SubconsciousGatherer Its an absolute drag. My introduction to burroughs was through his poetry albums and the movie naked lunch, so I probably expected it to be a lot darker. But one thing it has going for it is its honesty.

[@SubconsciousGatherer]

@@kahansudev5937 Well said, kahan sudev. From what I've read, Junky is his most straight forward and linear novel, which is an approach he abandons in subsequent works. Yeah, I suppose if you came in after the weirdness of Naked Lunch then Junky can be a bit dry or basic. I'm working my way through the audiobook today at work. It's quite a distraction from the mundane desk job. Cheers to you, my friend.

[@kahansudev5937]

@@SubconsciousGatherer If asked right now I would never say the book sucked. I think Burroughs is a gift to American litrature and is a profound study material. I recently read somewhere that JUNKY was more of a report form the underground. It was meant to be dry and monotonous. Litrature is dangerous for those of us stuck behind mundane desk jobs. Cheeres to you to mate.

[@jackbuckley7816]

Some years ago I finally made a point of reading Eliot's "The Wasteland" after hearing it praised & quoted throughout my life. Just my opinion, of course, but to me, it was the most meaningless, absurd piece of scrip-jottings I'd ever read. Yes, I know it's loaded with symbolism but it's obscure or completely invisible to an average reader, even one of reasonably perceptive intelligence such as myself, leading me to think "who needs it"? Poetry shouldn't be so obscure in its meanings. Frost didn't believe in that approach or style either, avoiding it in his own work, for which we all can be grateful. A little symbolism here & there, is fine, I guess, but not overloaded with it, as is "Wasteland", apparently. I just didn't, & still don't, understand why it's considered a landmark of so-called post-modern, 20th-century poetry, a groundbreaking benchmark & touchstone for our age. Until I actually read it, I never thought I'd consider "Wasteland" to be enormously overrated, not worth reading, &, frankly, just plain junk---but I do!

[@lullsbaby9321]

And?

[@SirAntoniousBlock]

You didn't understand shit lol.