I read all those books, and Burroughs Naked Lunch by 16... And de Sade later... Paul Bowles is a truly great writer. So are most of the writers of the classics taken from classroom libraries in Florida. This book-banning is all childish intellectual demagoguery of the lowest, lowest order... It just insults the intelligence of everyone and repels imagination and creativity.

{An aside: I was disappointed when I found out later what a stupid gun-nut William Burroughs was: he "accidentally" shot and killed his wife when he dropped a pistol on a table and it went off. Because he was a spoiled rich kid (scion grandson of the inventor who founded the Burroughs Corporation) he only got a two-year suspended sentence... Only a few years ago I learned that Burroughs was a Scientologist for many years. A complete wacko, yet that's so typically American, of course...}

Jerry Atrick wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:52 pm

Roryborealis wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:09 pm Doesn't appropriateness depend on the ages of the students in question?

For example, Mark Twain's salty language in Huckleberry Finn might come off nasty and harsh to a six year old, but not so much to a high school student who's already familiar with gangsta rap and trashy-ass memes and shit.

To be fair, I was reading Mark Twain at age 6 & it was just folksy stuff. Us 6 year old farm kids had pretty agricultural language already from our peers/environment

Good point, rural and urban reading patterns for kids may differ. Depends where you live. Who needs internet when you've got a lively peer group?

Learning of William S. Burroughs's "dangerous" prose only made me want to read him more. I understand that he's not everyone's cup of tea, and that he may scare kids. I totally get that. But goddamn that man could write.

John Bingham wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 11:34 pm

orichá wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 6:39 pm

{An aside: I was disappointed when I found out later what a stupid gun-nut William Burroughs was: he "accidentally" shot and killed his wife when he dropped a pistol on a table and it went off. Because he was a spoiled rich kid (scion grandson of the inventor who founded the Burroughs Corporation) he only got a two-year suspended sentence... Only a few years ago I learned that Burroughs was a Scientologist for many years. A complete wacko, yet that's so typically American, of course...}

That's not what happened. He had his wife, Joan, put an apple on her head to do a "William Tell" style trick. He missed Andy hit her square between the eyes. Their son witnessed it. It was in Mexico and he managed to get bail and skip the country.
He wasn't a Scientologist, he was just interested in some of their techniques and machines.
Years later himself, Ginsberg and others lived in Tangiers where they enjoyed fucking teenage boys. His son came to stay at one stage and his friends were trying to fuck him. William Burroughs Jr died very young.
Most of those "beat" writers were depraved trust fund kids.

Hmm, some context behind what they wrote. Some literary blowbags have opined that the Beats' privileged status fueled their rebellion, but I'm not sure I buy that interpretation. Not exactly bootstrappers, in any case. Reading of their messy, dramatic lives is often more interesting than some of their polished, published work.

John Bingham wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 11:34 pm

orichá wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 6:39 pm

{An aside: I was disappointed when I found out later what a stupid gun-nut William Burroughs was: he "accidentally" shot and killed his wife when he dropped a pistol on a table and it went off. Because he was a spoiled rich kid (scion grandson of the inventor who founded the Burroughs Corporation) he only got a two-year suspended sentence... Only a few years ago I learned that Burroughs was a Scientologist for many years. A complete wacko, yet that's so typically American, of course...}

That's not what happened. He had his wife, Joan, put an apple on her head to do a "William Tell" style trick. He missed Andy hit her square between the eyes. Their son witnessed it. It was in Mexico and he managed to get bail and skip the country.
He wasn't a Scientologist, he was just interested in some of their techniques and machines.

Oh well, who knows what happened: the Wikipedia entry says the William Tell story is a fable.

As for Scientology, according to a recent biography by an author who happens to live in Kampot and with whom I chatted on the subject two years ago in Siem Reap, Burroughs was a member of Scientology.

Sad his kid died. Didn't know he had any...