Roughly 10 years ago I was asked to contribute to an anthology of William Burroughs ... well, I'm not sure criticism is the correct word here, and I wonder about scholarship, at least in the sense of traditional, received notions of scholarship. What the hell was it? Perhaps I can best describe the anthology as…
There are a number of recorded versions of "Roadrunner" by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, but this extended live version released as a single on Berserkly is the one that really does it for me. Richman takes the listener on a long ride around the highways of Massachusetts "late at night when it's cold…
In the days I’m urged to call the punk rock shambles of my misspent youth, I would sometimes descend into a paralyzing--if undisciplined and fuzzy--philosophical inquiry concerning a matter of commitment and authenticity many in my tribe considered of grave importance: to get a tattoo or to remain un-illustrated. This was a big deal. It…
While watching the BBC World News this morning, I caught a report about a new documentary: William Burroughs: A Man Within. The report was built around an interview with the filmmaker, Yony Leyser. What struck me about this interview is how the interviewer from the BBC kept coming back to an assertion that Burroughs was…
The following is excerpted from Manifesto: Maximalist Expressionism, or "Shut/-/Up(!) Fiction". Always With a Bit of Laughter If there’s one thing I’ve taken from works of the authors I admire it’s the role humor and high-spiritedness can play in making fiction come alive. It seems to me fiction should bring to bear the full spectrum…
Ed Desautels' Maximum Fiction 