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James Grauerholz has published a piece in the current issue of Granta that excerpts some letters from the forthcoming 2nd volume of correspondence. It's a good read that focuses on Burroughs' hijinks with drugs and Timothy Leary. Whet your appetite here:

http://www.granta.com/Online-Only/Burroughs-Letters

That's great. Can't wait to read the book; the first book of letters was superb. Hope they include letters from Laura. I'm fascinated to see them.

thank you for sharing the link. Great tidbits. When can we expect this volume, by Xmas? (joke)

"Did nurse make tea all the time? Its an English practice that seems to come natural to me.."

Great. Never mind the faulty adverb.

Last I heard the book is due around February.

Feb???? That soon? Great. Is amazon taking pre-orders yet?

kindle edition??? Hope that that doesn't mean that it's not going to be published as a regular text. Please tell me that it's not true.

There's hardcover and paperback planned:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... perv32cinc

I suspect there will also be an audiobook of some sort.

thank you for keeping us posted on this.

The audio version of Rub Out the Words is available for preorder on iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/rub-out ... 3595?mt=11

Doesn't say who's reading the text, though.

I have an advance review copy of the printed book. The cover is horrible but the letters are great.

How exactly is the cover horrible? Interested in what you meant. Art work, cheap paper???

I should clarify that I have a proof copy, so the printing is deliberately lo-fi and the cover may yet change. However, because this cover is already in circulation (as on the iTunes page), I'm afraid we're going to be stuck with it.

What I don't like about the cover is the fact that the Warhol Polaroid of WSB does not, to me, represent the guy who wrote all those letters between 1959 and 1974. Burroughs in the 1960s was one sharp and productive motherfucker, the writerly equivalent of a professional assassin, and he would be better represented by a picture with his sleeves rolled up and his typewriter on the desk. The Warhol Polaroid makes him look like an old golfer -- which eventually he might have become, but not by the time of this book.

The other design elements of the cover are dull and unimaginative. They're not minimal enough to make you think the designer was striving for minimalism. The typography suggests nothing about Burroughs, the cut-up, scientology, etc -- which says that little thought was put into the design. But I guess that's what you get in this day and age, when publishers can barely afford to print books. Compare to how thoughtful and interesting the cover of volume 1 was.

But this is all quibbling. The letters themselves are fantastic, though very different in tone and spirit than the ones in the first volume.

How are they different?

A proof copy of a book is a cheap bound print used to finalize content and design. Traditionally it doesn't have cover art, may not have page numbers or blurbs on the back, may have marketing materials printed right on it. Basically it's a functional mockup of the book.

A review copy of a book is usually the final printed book but it's sent to reviewers before it's sent to retailers, often with a press release tucked in.

To complicate matters, proofs are sometimes given to reviewers the same as review copies.

The internet is causing this old system to change, though. For example, I've noticed some publishers giving out PDFs to reviewers rather than proofs or review copies. This risks having some errant reviewer post the book to the internet, but it's way cheaper than sending out physical books.