{"id":9542,"date":"2025-05-21T18:15:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T01:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/?page_id=9542"},"modified":"2025-05-21T20:37:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T03:37:30","slug":"william-s-burroughs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/friends-influences\/important-people-in-carrolls-life-and-work\/artistic-influences-mentors-supporters\/william-s-burroughs\/","title":{"rendered":"William S Burroughs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a>
William S. Burroughs (pencil drawing by Cassie Carter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

William S. Burroughs (1914-1997)<\/strong> is a founding member of the Beat Generation.
<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carroll\u2019s first reference to Burroughs, as far as I know, is in\u00a0The Basketball Diaries<\/a><\/em>: “\u2018Take a hard look down that long corridor,\u2019 as The Man said, wiseguy” (p. 200), alluding to Naked Lunch<\/em>, where Burroughs writes: “Look down LOOK DOWN along that junk road before you travel there and get in with the Wrong Mob. . . . A word to the wise guy” (Grove edition, p. xix). Similarly, Carroll’s poem “Paregoric Babies” in\u00a0Living at the Movies<\/em>\u00a0is a reference to Burroughs, who writes (just before the passage above): “Paregoric Babies of the World Unite. We have nothing to lose but Our Pushers.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carroll first met Burroughs probably around 1971-72 or so, at a party which he describes in “The Loft Party” in\u00a0Forced Entries<\/em>\u00a0(pp. 101-110). Burroughs ordered a cocktail from Carroll, thinking he was the bartender . . . they ended up talking about Dutch Schultz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is Carroll reading a passage from “The Loft Party” at Cafe Largo in Los Angeles, CA, in March 1991:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Burroughs on Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pencil drawing of Burroughs \u00a91993 Cassie Carter<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) is a founding member of the Beat Generation. Carroll\u2019s first reference to Burroughs, as far as I know, is in\u00a0The Basketball Diaries: “\u2018Take a hard look down that long corridor,\u2019 as The Man said, wiseguy” (p. 200), alluding to Naked Lunch, where Burroughs writes: “Look down LOOK DOWN along that junk … Continue reading William S Burroughs<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9419,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-9542","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2tU","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4068,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/jim-carroll-music-and-spoken-word\/jim-carroll-spoken-word-collaborations\/","url_meta":{"origin":9542,"position":0},"title":"Jim Carroll: Spoken-Word Collaborations & Soundtracks","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"See also: Albums: Spoken-Word\/Lecture Doctor Sax and the Great World SnakeReleased: 2003By: Jack KerouacPerformed by: various artistsLabel: MintGenre: Spoken word (dramatic reading) This two-CD set offers a dramatic reading of Kerouac's previouslyunpublished screenplay. Carroll performs multiple roles and is featured in almost every scene. Robert Creeley narrates. 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Jim read a very interesting excerpt from\u00a0Junkie\u00a0wherein Burroughs tells of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9348,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/friends-influences\/important-people-in-carrolls-life-and-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":9542,"position":2},"title":"Important people in Carroll\u2019s life and work","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"March 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Index: Artistic Influences, Mentors, & Supporters John Ashbery\u00a0|\u00a0Bill Berkson\u00a0|\u00a0Brigid Berlin\u00a0|\u00a0Ted Berrigan\u00a0|\u00a0William S. Burroughs\u00a0| Joseph Campbell | \u00a0Tom Clark\u00a0|\u00a0Kurt Cobain\u00a0|\u00a0Salvador Dali\u00a0|\u00a0Edwin Denby\u00a0|\u00a0Bob Dylan\u00a0|\u00a0Lawrence Ferlenghetti\u00a0|\u00a0Allen Ginsberg\u00a0|\u00a0John Giorno\u00a0|\u00a0Richard Hell\u00a0|\u00a0Lenny Kaye\u00a0|\u00a0Jack Kerouac\u00a0|\u00a0Gerard Malanga\u00a0|\u00a0Ray Manzarek\u00a0|\u00a0Robert Mapplethorpe\u00a0|\u00a0Michael McClure\u00a0|\u00a0Henry Miller\u00a0|\u00a0Paul Morrissey\u00a0|\u00a0Forrest \"Frosty\" Myers\u00a0|\u00a0Phil Ochs\u00a0|\u00a0Frank O'Hara\u00a0|\u00a0Peter Orlovsky\u00a0|\u00a0Lou Reed\u00a0|\u00a0Arthur Rimbaud\u00a0|\u00a0Larry Rivers\u00a0|\u00a0Patti Smith\u00a0|\u00a0Robert Smithson\u00a0|\u00a0Terry Southern\u00a0|\u00a0Velvet Undergound\u00a0|\u00a0Anne Waldman\u00a0|\u00a0Andrea Warhol\u00a0|\u00a0Andy Warhol\u00a0 Index:\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4012,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/literary-works\/translations-foreign-editions\/the-basketball-diaries-and-the-book-of-nods\/","url_meta":{"origin":9542,"position":3},"title":"The Basketball Diaries and The Book of Nods","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Basketball Diaries & The Book of Nods by Jim Carroll The Basketball Diaries and The Book of NodsBy Jim CarrollFaber & Faber, 1987 This unique British paperback reprints The Basketball Diaries and the prose poems of The Book of Nods. 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WilsonThe State News, Michigan State University20 February 1998 Courtesy of Jim Carroll \ufeff Jim Carroll is widely known for his famous book turned mainstream movie, \u201cThe Basketball Diaries,\u201d and will be making two stops in Michigan this weekend. Like many who associated\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/msu1-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4631,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/jim-carrolls-films\/","url_meta":{"origin":9542,"position":5},"title":"Jim Carroll’s Films","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Catholic BoyBy The Runnels BrothersWork in Progress: 2022 - Other pertinent details? Catholic Boy is a feature length documentary about the poet, prose writer and musician Jim Carroll. 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