RealityStudio

Mapping Floating Bear

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 5 Feb 2010
Subject Jed has begun a project to map the distribution of Floating Bear, the mimeo publication put out by Diane Di Prima and LeRoi Jones. He has posted a spreadsheet to the Floating Bear archive. If anyone happens to have a Floating Bear with a mailing label, please contact Jed with the information. Thanks.
Link Floating Bear Archive

William S. Burroughs’ Roosevelt after Inauguration: Autopsy or To See for Yourself

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 1 Feb 2010
Subject Jed makes the case for a materialist reading of mimeo publications, beginning with the Fuck You edition of William S. Burroughs’ early and controversial routine Roosevelt after Inauguration
Link William S. Burroughs’ Roosevelt after Inauguration: Autopsy or To See for Yourself

Collecting William S. Burroughs in Print: A Checklist

Author Eric C. Shoaf
Date 25 Jan 2010
Subject Eric Shoaf has now contributed the entirety of his important checklist of Burroughs items to RealityStudio. In addition to the Burroughs books and “Not in Maynard & Miles” bibliographies previously available, RealityStudio now hosts Shoaf’s checklist of B Items (Burroughs contributions to books and anthologies), C Items (Burroughs contributions to periodicals), and publications about Burroughs.
Link Collecting William S. Burroughs in Print: A Checklist

Interview with Filmmaker Andre Perkowski

Author Graham Rae
Date 11 Jan 2010
Subject Graham Rae interviews filmmaker Andre Perkowski, creator of the brilliant, “10-years-in-the-making-and-making-and-making” film of William S. Burroughs’ Nova Express
Link Interview with Filmmaker Andre Perkowski

Letters from William S. Burroughs to Antony Balch

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 11 Jan 2010
Subject Jed presents a selection of correspondence between William S. Burroughs and filmmaker Antony Balch
Link Letters from William S. Burroughs to Antony Balch

Updates: Fuck You Press and C Press

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 11 Jan 2010
Subject The archives for both Fuck You Press and C Press have been updated with additional material.
Link 1 Fuck You Press Archive
Link 2 C Press Archive

William Burroughs and David Solomon

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 14 Dec 2009
Subject Using previously uncollected correspondence and ephemera, Jed tells the tale of David Solomon, who was an early admirer of Burroughs’ work, an early proponent of LSD, a successful editor, and ultimately a failed drug kingpin.
Link William Burroughs and David Solomon

The Mouth Inside: The Voices of Naked Lunch

Author Ian MacFadyen
Date 7 Dec 2009
Subject Ian MacFadyen offers a brilliant meditation on the role of the voice and the mouth in William Burroughs’ magnum opus. Accompanying the text are paintings from Phil Wood’s “Postcards from Purgatory.”
Link The Mouth Inside: The Voices of Naked Lunch

William Burroughs and the William Tell Legend

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 23 Nov 2009
Subject Jed offers a creative reading of the William Tell legend and its implications for the pivotal event in William Burroughs’ life — the shooting death of his wife Joan Vollmer Burroughs.
Link William Burroughs and the William Tell Legend

Mimeo Mimeo 3

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 23 Nov 2009
Subject In addition to writing for RealityStudio, Jed Birmingham collaborates with Kyle Schlesinger on Mimeo Mimeo, a blog and printed zine dedicated to artists’ books and the mimeo revolution. Hot off the presses is Mimeo Mimeo #3: The Danny Snelson Issue, which also contains an insert, “The Infernal Method,” written, designed and printed letterpress by Aaron Cohick. See the Mimeo Mimeo web site for ordering details.

The Frisco Kid He Never Returns: Naked Lunch and San Francisco

Author Oliver Harris
Date 21 November 2009
Subject Oliver Harris looks at the relationship — or non-relationship? — between Naked Lunch and San Francisco in a transcript to the talk given at the San Francisco Art Institute during the NL@50 homage.
Link The Frisco Kid He Never Returns: Naked Lunch and San Francisco

The Soft Machines

Author Dave Teeuwen
Date 17 Nov 2009
Subject Dave offers an overview of the three different editions of William S. Burroughs’ cut-up novel The Soft Machine.
Link The Soft Machines

William Burroughs and the History of Heroin

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 2 Nov 2009
Subject Jed argues that William Burroughs’ heroin addiction, seen in light of the history of heroin usage and trafficking since World War II, offers unique insights into the author of Junkie and Naked Lunch.
Link William Burroughs and the History of Heroin

Interview with Graham Masterton on William S. Burroughs

Author Dave Teeuwen
Date 2 Nov 2009
Subject Dave interviews Graham Masterton, who befriended Burroughs in Swinging London, published him in Mayfair, and worked with him on the hard-to-find cut-up book Rules of Duel.
Link Interview with Graham Masterton on William S. Burroughs

From Dr Mabuse to Doc Benway: The Myths and Manuscripts of Naked Lunch

Author Oliver Harris
Date 26 October 2009
Subject Oliver Harris dissects the myths behind the creation of Naked Lunch in a transcript to the talk given recently at Columbia University during the NL@50 homage.
Link From Dr Mabuse to Doc Benway: The Myths and Manuscripts of Naked Lunch

William Burroughs and Norman Mailer

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 14 October 2009
Subject Norman Mailer dubbed the author of Naked Lunch a genius, but his real estimation of William Burroughs was complex. Jed takes a look at Mailer, the White Negro, the Beats, Burroughs, and writers who attack their wives.
Link William Burroughs and Norman Mailer

William S. Burroughs’ “Abstracts”

Author Dave Teeuwen
Date 29 September 2009
Subject Offering a series of “Abstracts” published by William Burroughs in little mags, Dave Teeuwen shows how they contributed to The Wild Boys and marked a significant turning point in Burroughs’ work.
Link William S. Burroughs’ “Abstracts”

Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, and the Computer

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 10 September 2009
Subject Charles Bukowski wrote on an Apple computer. William Burroughs apparently didn’t use a computer at all. Jed offers some thoughts on writers, their machines, and literature in the digital age.
Link Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, and the Computer

Michael Stevens’ Road to Interzone

Author News
Date 28 August 2009
Subject Michael Stevens’ excellent Road to Interzone: Reading William S. Burroughs Reading is finally available in print. Road to Interzone, a bibliography of books known to have been read by Burroughs, is literally a must-have for any Burroughsian.

(Disclaimer: The creators of RealityStudio offered blurbs for the printed book not out of friendship for the author but because Road to Interzone definitely belongs on any shelf that contains Ted Morgan’s Literary Outlaw, Maynard & Miles’ Burroughs bibliography, Shoaf’s checklist, etc.)

You can order the book directly from its publisher, Suicide Press, or if you feel a moral obligation not to buy a book without giving Amazon a cut, you can buy it there too.

RealityStudio Highlights

Archives and Scans

Author Jed Birmingham
Subject RealityStudio has a vast archive of incredible Burroughs and small-press rarities that includes complete scans of William S. Burroughs’ Time and APO-33, as well as a number of little mags.
Link 1 William S. Burroughs’ Time
Link 2 William S. Burroughs’ APO-33
Link 3 Complete My Own Mag Archive
Link 4 Fuck You Press Archive
Link 5 Kulchur Archive
Link 6 Floating Bear Archive
Link 7 Rhinozeros Archive
Link 8 Locus Solus Archive
Link 9 Evergreen Review Archive
Link 10 Burroughs in Men’s Mags Archive
Link 11 The Word (Naked Lunch Outtake) in Swank
Link 12 Bulletin from Nothing Archive
Link 13 Burroughs Text in January 1960 Mademoiselle

Death in Paris by Carl Weissner

Author Carl Weissner
Date 24 July 2009
Subject RealityStudio is very proud to present a previously unpublished text by Carl Weissner, along with an archive of materials celebrating his achievements in the avant-garde press
Link Death in Paris by Carl Weissner

Hikuta!: Burroughs and His Guns

Author Tom Peschio
Date 12 March 2009
Subject Tom Peschio provides an insider’s glimpse of a “dangerous guy” and his guns.
Link Hikuta!: Burroughs and His Guns

And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

Author Jed Birmingham
Date 5 Nov 2008
Subject Jed reviews the newly released And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks and finds that something may be hiding in plain sight, an act of self-censorship with dramatic consequences to the text and the real-world characters on whom it is based.
Link And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

William S. Burroughs and Joy Division

Author RealityStudio
Date 29 May 2008
Subject Literary references are frequent in the work of seminal post-punk band Joy Division, and singer Ian Curtis greatly admired William Burroughs in particular. Both the band and the author appeared at a 1979 performance, after which Curtis introduced himself to the famous author. Was the meeting, as legend has it, a disappointment? RealityStudio pieces together the story with recollections from those who were there…
Link William S. Burroughs and Joy Division

David Britton and Michael Butterworth on William S. Burroughs

Author RealityStudio
Date 24 March 2008
Subject To mark the publication of Horror Panegyric, an essay by Supervert (creator of RealityStudio) on their Lord Horror novels, David Britton and Michael Butterworth — writers both and founders of Savoy Books — expand on their thoughts about William S. Burroughs.
Link David Britton and Michael Butterworth on William S. Burroughs

Everything Lost, The Latin American Notebook of William S. Burroughs: The Inside Story

Author Oliver Harris
Date 17 Dec 2007
Subject Everything Lost, The Latin American Notebook of William S. Burroughs is due to be released on 17 December 2007. In honor of the occasion, Volume Editor Oliver Harris offers the inside story — how the notebook was discovered, deciphered, transcribed, and prepared for publication. (And be sure to order your copy of Everything Lost at Amazon.)
Link Everything Lost, The Latin American Notebook of William S. Burroughs: The Inside Story

Henry Miller and William Burroughs

Author RealityStudio
Date 18 July 2007
Subject Astonishingly, the relationship between Henry Miller and William Burroughs has gone largely unmapped in literary scholarship. Seeking to rectify this omission, RealityStudio surveys the relationship of the two writers in an overview and Ian MacFadyen adds further insights in a response.
Link 1 Henry Miller and William Burroughs: An Overview
Link 2 Henry Miller and William Burroughs: A Letter

Cutting up the Archive: William Burroughs and the Composite Text

Author Oliver Harris
Date 11 Jun 2007
Subject RealityStudio is proud to present the text of a talk recently given by Burroughs scholar Oliver Harris, author of William Burroughs and the Secret of Fascination, editor of Burroughs’ letters, Junky: The Definitive Text of “Junk”, and most recently Yage Redux.
Link Cutting up the Archive: William Burroughs and the Composite Text

A William S. Burroughs Bibliography

Author Eric C. Shoaf
Date April 2007
Subject Eric C. Shoaf, author of Collecting William S. Burroughs in Print: A Checklist, has very kindly contributed his bibliography of books and broadside prints to RealityStudio.Alongside the Maynard & Miles bibliography published in 1978, the Shoaf checklist has long been the most definitive listing of Burroughs publications available. In addition to books and broadsides, the printed checklist also itemizes Burroughs contributions to other books and periodicals, criticism, and miscellanea. This online edition, prefaced and updated by Mr. Shoaf, will no doubt be a tremendous asset to the community of Burroughs scholars and enthusiasts.
Link A William S. Burroughs Bibliography

Jan Herman’s Burroughs / Balch Video

Author Jan Herman
Date Sept 2006
Subject Jan Herman has worked all summer with RealityStudio to recover a video experiment he created in 1971 with William S. Burroughs and Antony Balch. Never before seen by anyone but the participants, the video is presented here to the public for the first time.
Link Burroughs / Balch Video Experiment

Transitional Period vs Gongs of Violence

Author RealityStudio
Date 15 August 2006
Subject RealityStudio provides a side-by-side comparison of a 1961 Burroughs cut-up and a later version of the (same?) text from The Soft Machine.
Link Transitional Period vs Gongs of Violence
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