Junkie is a 1953 semi-autobiographical novel by William S. Burroughs. It was his first published novel and has come to be considered a seminal text on the lifestyle of heroin addicts in the early 1950s. Burroughs' working title was Junk. The novel was considered unpublishable more than it was controversial. Burroughs began it largely at the request and insistence of Allen Ginsberg, who was impressed by Burroughs’s letter-writing skill. Burroughs took up the task with little enthusiasm. However, partly because he saw that becoming a publishable writer was possible , he began to compile... his experiences as an addict, ‘lush roller’ and small-time Greenwich Village heroin pusher. Burroughs's work would not have been published but for Allen Ginsberg’s drive and determination. Apart from his own artistic output, Ginsberg can justly be remembered as a great teacher of writing. Throughout his life, he shepherded many artistic works to fruition. Junkie was probably the first.
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| Author: | William S. Burroughs, William Burroughs |
| Genre: | Autobiographical novel |
| Year published: | 1953 |
| Number of editions: | 8 |