Junky by William S. Burroughs
Published in 1953, Burroughs delivers a raw and honest look at the life of an addict and where that leads with unabashed candor.
Having trashed Naked Lunch, I had dim hopes for this read, but was I ever suprised and wondered if perhaps Burroughs early years into drug use hadn’t yet mottled his mind when he penned this classic.
Putridity flowed from the pages of this novel and it was as if I were among the ragtag group of its junky characters alongside Mr. Burroughs as they navigated the world of drugs and all that comes with that life.
Bill Lee, Mr. Burroughs alias, takes us down his hellhole as he struggles with addiction, rehab, arrest…repeat. He is very unapologetic and does nothing to make himself look good.
The violent psychopath Jack even scares Bill.
Roy, the junk hog…Herman, the apartment hopper, Abe Green, the one-legged pusher and many more unsavory characters.
Quotes:
I cannot understand why the people who claim weed causes crime do not follow through and demand the outlawing of alcohol. Every day, crimes are committed by drunks who would not have committed the crime sober.
When one personality meets another for the first time, there is a period of mutual examination on the intuitive level of empathy and identification. But it was impossible to relate one’s self to Doolie in any way. He was simply the focal point for a hostile intrusive force. You could feel him walk right into your psyche and look around to see if anything was there he could make use of.
Perhaps I’d reread Naked Lunch and then meet up with Mr. Burroughs at a local library where there would be little interruption and no temptations. I’d ask him about the changes in his life from Junky (1953) to Naked Lunch (1959).
My rating for Junky is an 8 out of 10.
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Next up…George Saunders’ Pastoralia…
Source: https://vsudia.wordpress.com/2026/03/24/junky-by-william-s-burroughs/
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