1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: William S Burrows are insane. He left his son and 3 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: wife alone in a foreign country so he could go 4 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: score ayahuasca. In the jungle, he shot the head off 5 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: a mouse while the person holding it by the tail 6 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: feared for their life. He was a convicted killer who 7 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: only did thirteen days in jail, and all this before 8 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: he became a literary icon, an icon whose novel Naked Lunch, 9 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: one of the signature works of the Beat generation, was 10 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: banned and went on trial for obscenity. William Burrows's writing 11 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: was so evocative that it inspired generations of musicians, from 12 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: the Rolling Stones in Patti Smith to Kirk Cobaine to 13 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: make great music. Unlike that loop I played for you 14 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,919 Speaker 1: at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop for my melotron called modern 16 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 1: Life is Luscious MK one. I played you that loop 17 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: because I can't afford the rights to Come Out of 18 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: My House by Rosemary Cooney. And why would I play 19 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: you that specific slice of Forbidden Candied Cheese? Could I 20 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: afford it? Because that was the number one song in 21 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: America on September sixth, nineteen fifty one, and that was 22 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: the day that william S Burrows, at the time an 23 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: unknown and mostly failed writer, made the most fateful decision 24 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: of his life when he pointed a gun at a 25 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: highball glass balanced atop his wife's head and pulled the 26 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: trigger up. On this episode Aahuasca in the Jungle, Guns 27 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: in Mexico, Obscenity, literary icon and william S Burrows. I'm 28 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan in This Is Disgraceland. It's late. You're in 29 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: your room looking at your phone because you're fifteen. What 30 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: else are you going to be doing on a Tuesday night? Homework? 31 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: Not likely? You're scrolling TikTok, going on a deep dive 32 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: of Kurt Cobaine interviews that populate infinitely in your feed 33 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: because you're not a conformist like the other kids at school. 34 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,519 Speaker 1: You're not into Cardi B or Imagine Dragons or whatever. 35 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: The fuck. I don't even know. I'm not going to 36 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: pretend I know. You like classics like Rim, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth, 37 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: Nirvana is your favorite year. Your older sister she played 38 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: you Heart Shaped Box and you were instantly hooked. Not 39 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: just on Nirvana's music, but on Kirk Covain's Whole Vibe, 40 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: Kurt understood the world for what it truly was. Bullshit, school, bullshit, work, bullshit, conformity, bullshit, 41 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: total bullshit. Today, as you watch the same old interview clips, 42 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: you discover something new. It's Kurt Cobain talking to a 43 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: German interviewer. Somehow they get on the subject of the 44 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: beat poets. You understand the reference. You have your sister 45 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: to thank for that too. She brought home a paperback 46 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: copy of On the Road from her English Lit class, 47 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,119 Speaker 1: and it blew your mind. Kurt isn't talking about Jack Kerouac, 48 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: though he says William Burrows is the King. He grins 49 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: when he says that the two of them wrote a 50 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: few letters back and forth to each other, and that 51 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: they even recorded together. Holy shit, a Kurt Cobain recording 52 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: that you ever heard Jack pond. Immediately you flip over 53 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: to YouTube and find the song that he's talking about, 54 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: the priest they called him. There's a picture of Kurt 55 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: with a frail looking old man in glasses and a 56 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: tall bone sin. You hit play, and this old man 57 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: takes you on a chilling tale of a heroin addict, 58 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: searching for one last fix on Christmas Eve, while Kurt 59 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: contributes scraps of paint peeling feedback on guitar. It's dark, haunting. 60 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: Suddenly there's a call from the kitchen and your snap 61 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: back to reality. Dinner time. In the hallway, you ask 62 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: your sister if she's ever heard of William Burrows. Yeah, 63 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,039 Speaker 1: she tells you. He's like the guy who taught Jack 64 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: Kerouac and now in Ginsburg how to write or something 65 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,479 Speaker 1: like that. At the dinner table, you ask your dad 66 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: if he knows Borrows. Dad smiles, definitely, He's the guy 67 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: who inspired the band named Steely. Look it up, he says, 68 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: on second thought, don't though, of course you do, and 69 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: it's gross. A Steely Dan is a steam powered Bildo 70 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: or something like that. Even better, your dad tells you 71 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: Borrows inspired micking Keith's lyrics for and you're rolling your 72 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: eyes as your old man says this for the million time, 73 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: the greatest rock record ever made Exile on Main Street. 74 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: After dinner, you keep googling. You read about William Burrows, 75 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: the Godfather of Punk, hanging out with Patti Smith and 76 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: lou Reid. William Burrows, the pioneer of the avant garde 77 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: who inspired Jean Michel Basquiat. William Burrows the Enigma, conservative, 78 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: gum loving and gay. And then there's William Burrows the 79 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: drug addict, and William Burrows the criminal, and of course 80 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: William Burrows the murderer. Nineteen fifty one, Mexico City. He 81 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: took a deep break and cocked the handgun. He tried 82 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: not to think about how bad his hands were shaking, 83 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: or how it felt like bugs were crawling all over 84 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: his skin. He licked his thin, dry lips. God, he 85 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: needed another drink or another joint, anything, First, he needed 86 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: to hit his target. Thirty seven year old William Burrows 87 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: raised the three eighty pistol in the air. Ten feet 88 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: ahead of him stood a bus boy trembling, and Burrows 89 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: lined up a shot, and the bus boy shut his 90 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: eyes tight. He took another deep breath. The bus boy 91 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: stretched his arm out away from him and whispered a 92 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 1: prayer under his breath. Borrows went still, his hands quit shaking, 93 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: and then he fired. The bullet flew out of the 94 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: barrel and tore through its intended target. Bones, blood and 95 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: body parts went flying in all directions. The busboy opened 96 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: his eyes slowly. He could see the hail of the 97 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: mouse still pinched between his fingers. The rest of the 98 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 1: mouse's body was splattered against the wall behind him, except 99 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: the head, which came clean off and was now spinning 100 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: like a bloody top by the doorway of this barrow's 101 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: storage room. A cheer rose up in the room. William 102 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: Burrows gave a slight nod and put the pistol back 103 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: in his holster. He smirked and looked over at John Healy, 104 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: the American owner of this ex pat bar in Mexico City, 105 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: told you, I could do it. John just shook his 106 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: head and pulled out a hundred payso note. Burrows snatched 107 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: the bill triumphantly. He didn't really need the money, since 108 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: his parents still sudden him a couple hundred bucks a month, 109 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: but a bet was a bet, and John slapped him 110 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,119 Speaker 1: on the back. He grabbed a few bottles of liquor, 111 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: and they turned to head back upstairs to the party. 112 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: As they were doing so, Burrows looked down and saw 113 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: the mouse's bloody head lying on the floor. He almost 114 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: screamed when it opened its eyes and looked at him. 115 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: Now the decapitated mouse's head was speaking, will you really 116 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: seem to be compensating for something with that gun? Burrows 117 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: closed his eyes and counted to ten. When he opened 118 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: them again, the mouse's head lay motionless in the doorway. 119 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: Six months ago, William Burrows kicked heroin, and still these 120 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: hallucinations stalked him. At least he was clean, though for good. 121 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: This time, he was sure. Although clean was a relative 122 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: term for william S Burrows, clean didn't include alcohol or opium. 123 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: It definitely didn't include marijuana. Those weren't hard drugs, no 124 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: danger of forming a habit. Burrows followed John Healy to 125 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 1: his apartment above the Bounty Bar in Mexico City. The 126 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 1: Bounty Bar was the favorite hangout of Burrows and his wife, 127 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:01,719 Speaker 1: Joan Volmer. Every day at five o'clock, they grabbed a 128 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: table near the front window and worked their way through 129 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: a bottle of tequila while watching their four year old 130 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: son and Joan's seven year old daughter play on the sidewalk. 131 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: This was William Burrows's new habit, not junk drinking alongside Joan, 132 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,559 Speaker 1: who gobbled inmphetamines by the handful and leveled them out 133 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 1: with tequila or gin. Starting around eight am no special 134 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: occasion required. Today, however, was a special occasion. Borrows was 135 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: finally back in Mexico City after a two month journey 136 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: through the Amazon rainforest in search of a mystical hallucinogen. 137 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,439 Speaker 1: The trip was a disaster. He never found the drug, 138 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: and to make matters worse, Joan was furious at him 139 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,319 Speaker 1: for leaving her alone with two small children while he 140 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: went on a boondoggle with Lewis Marker, a student friend 141 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: fifteen years his junior. Didn't help that Borrows was sleeping 142 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 1: with him the whole time. Joan knew her husband liked men, 143 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,160 Speaker 1: but his crush on Lewis was turning into an obses ess. 144 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:06,080 Speaker 1: It gave her a bad feeling bruise in hand. Burrow's 145 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: and John Healey stumbled up to Healey's apartment, and before 146 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: they opened the door, Burrows hesitated. The latest hallucination had 147 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 1: spooked him, felt like a premonition. He had to get 148 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: out of here. He told John he was going to 149 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 1: take a walk into town, and he returned a few 150 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: hours later to find the party in high gear. Lewis Marker, 151 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: that student friend and sometime lover, was chatting up a 152 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: curvacous blonde, and Joan was slashing another drink and mumbling 153 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: a story to their host. The bad feelings washed over 154 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: Burrows again. This party was dull, hell off the drugs, 155 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: everything was dull. If he wanted excitement tonight, he was 156 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: going to have to make it himself. So William Burrows 157 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:59,199 Speaker 1: stood up and made his announcement. Darling, he said, looking 158 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: at Joan, I think it's time for our William Tell routine. 159 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: Nineteen sixty five, Boston, Massachusetts. The unmistakable sound of woods 160 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: slamming into wood reverberated through the courtroom. Alan Ginsburg stood 161 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 1: up and approached the stand. America's most famous and controversial 162 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: poet was about to testify for the defense. Not in 163 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: defense of a person. He was defending a book, specifically 164 00:11:54,800 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 1: William Burrows's magnum Opus Naked Lunch. After his own Mister 165 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:04,199 Speaker 1: Piece Howell was banned in California in nineteen fifty five. 166 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,959 Speaker 1: Alan Ginsburg and his publishers had been able to overturn 167 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: the decision in court. Now a decade later, Ginsburg was 168 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: trying to do the same for his friend, here to 169 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: convince the court that the book in fact had literary 170 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: merit and thus first Amendment protection that it was not pornography, 171 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: but a work of art with redeeming value. As he 172 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,040 Speaker 1: raised his hand to be sworn in, Alan Ginsburg cut 173 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 1: quite a figure. A mop of curly hair hanging beneath 174 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 1: the balding top of his head, a beard descending past 175 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: his shirt collar, yet his three piece suit was perfectly tailored. 176 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: He looked like a wild eyed English professor after one 177 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:46,439 Speaker 1: too many cups of coffee. On the opposite side of 178 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:50,439 Speaker 1: the witness stand stood an attorney. Mister Ginsburg, would you 179 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 1: please tell the court whether or not, or to what 180 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: extent naked lunch the book has had importance for your 181 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: own creative work. Alan Ginsburg cleared his throat. He leaned 182 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 1: forward to give his answer, and as he did, memories 183 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: of Tangier flashed through his mind. William Burrows stumbled into 184 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: the kitchen. He turned around in a panic as the 185 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,439 Speaker 1: doctor burst through the doorway behind him. The bastard was 186 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: dressed in full Nazi regalia, a swastika on each term. 187 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: Burrows tried to run, but it was too late. The 188 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 1: doctor plunged a syringe deep into his arm. Bill The 189 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: doctor was saying, cackling, really his eyes wild with madness. 190 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 1: Hold still, you must dig zi cure. Burrows pushed the 191 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: doctor away and again tried to run. He stepped out 192 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: into a dank alley, but a dead cat lying on 193 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: the dirt stopped him in his tracks. Blood oozed out 194 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: from a hole in the feline's head. Then its eyes 195 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:51,680 Speaker 1: shot open and spoke, what's the matter? Bill cat? Cut 196 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: your tongue? William Burrows lurched back in terror. He turned 197 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: to escape and nearly slammed into someone. Thank God, it 198 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: was a familiar face, Alan Ginsburg, his friend, his savior, 199 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: his obsession. Suddenly they weren't in an alley anymore, but 200 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: standing in a cramp kitchen. It looked just like the 201 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: apartment in New York where they bonded after that business 202 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 1: in Mexico City, a bond that quickly turned into a 203 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: love affair, an affair that became an all consuming obsession 204 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: for Burrows, so intense that it scared Ginsburg. After two months, 205 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: Ginsburg broke it off, and that's when Burrows split the 206 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: United States for here Tangier, the lawless, internationally run city 207 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: in Morocco. Now Ginsburg was right in front of him. 208 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: Burrows reached out to embrace him, but Ginsburg just pushed 209 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: him away. He forced Burrows's head down towards a huge 210 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: cast iron pot boiling on the stove and lifted up 211 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: the lid. Borrows looked down in there, he wondered. Ginsburg 212 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: gave the answer. Although his mouth didn't move brains, it 213 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: was almost telepathic. Burrows saw a mass of white worms 214 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: writhing and squirming in the pot. He screamed. He snapped 215 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: his head up toward the ceiling, and he was back 216 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: in the bright white hospital room. A doctor watched him 217 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: as he strained against the bonds that held him down. 218 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 1: No swastikus, no Nazi regalia. Reality set in. Burrows was 219 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 1: kicking junk again. He'd been through the cycle more times 220 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: than he could count than this time. After three days 221 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: of hell, he was finally starting to come back to earth. 222 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: The doctor muttered something in German as he prepared another injection. 223 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: He shot Burrows full of sedatives, but not enough to 224 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 1: completely knock him out. For the cure to work, he 225 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: needed to be conscious. Burrows groaned in pain as the 226 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: needle stabbed him again. He would later portray this doctor 227 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: as the villain Doctor Benway in his book Naked Lunch. 228 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: For now. He was so desperate to get off the 229 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: junk that he was willing to try anything. After Alan 230 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: Ginsburg broke it off with him, William Burrows arrived in 231 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: Tangier wrecked. He blew through the monthly stipend his parents 232 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 1: sent him on young male prostitutes, but that only helps 233 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: so much for total numbness. He turned to drugs, and 234 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: in Tangier in nineteen fifty five, drugs were everywhere. It 235 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: took no time to get hooked on the German painkiller yucadol. 236 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: It got so bad that he quit bathing, quit eating, 237 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: but he kept writing, even if it was just letters 238 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: to Ginsburg, who, despite the breakup, was still acting as 239 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: his literary agent. These letters are filled with grim portraits 240 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: of addiction and depravity, stories so dark they gave Alan 241 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: Ginsburg nightmares, and that's how Ginsburg knew they were good. 242 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: He begged his friend to get clean and pulled these 243 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: bits together into a novel. Thus William Burrows was subjecting 244 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: himself to the cure once again. It took several more 245 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,679 Speaker 1: attempts and a trip to a London clinic, but by 246 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:17,879 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty seven Burrows was mostly clean. In letters he 247 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,360 Speaker 1: asked Ginsburg and Jack Kerouac to visit him to help 248 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: turn what he'd been writing into a real manuscript. They 249 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: were nervous. Newspapers reported the tensions in Tangier were rising. 250 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,880 Speaker 1: Moroccans were calling for the city to return to their control, 251 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 1: and there were large protests. Violence was in the air. 252 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: Burrows downplayed the danger and assured his friends they would 253 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: be safe. A decade ago, the trio explored the seed 254 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: underbelly of New York, giving rise to the Beat generation. Now, Borrows, Ginsburg, 255 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 1: and Karrouak were finally together again, even if Ginsburg had 256 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,679 Speaker 1: arrived with his new partner in tow. When they stepped 257 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: off the boat together, a jealousy cut right through William 258 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:06,199 Speaker 1: Burrows's heart like a bullet. He channeled that jealousy and 259 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 1: pain into his writing, writing that had now replaced sex 260 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: and drugs as his addiction of choice. His new routine 261 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 1: was this wake up, swim or row a boat in 262 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: the bay, eat breakfast, and Popma June, basically the original 263 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: hash Brownie. Before settling in the handwrite up to six 264 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: thousand words a day. Kerouac and Ginsburg tried to make 265 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: sense of his notes and scribbles and type them into 266 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: a workable manuscript. The schedule was grueling, but soon the 267 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 1: vivid sights and sounds of Tangier were coming to life 268 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:44,439 Speaker 1: as the dreamlike inter zone of Naked Lunch. Meanwhile, the 269 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: protests in Tangier turned into outright conflict. Borrows, on his 270 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: way home from his morning workout, passed by a large 271 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: group of protesters, pushing up against a wall of French soldiers, 272 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: screaming at them to go home. The soldiers inched backwards slowly, 273 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,879 Speaker 1: until suddenly one of them fired into the crowd. People 274 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:08,080 Speaker 1: scattered in all directions, and as the crowd cleared, Barrows 275 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:11,439 Speaker 1: stood there, horrified, watching his soldier pull a body out 276 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: of the water. A bullet lodged in the forehead. He 277 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: closed his eyes and shook his head, but when he 278 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 1: opened them the body was still there. This was no hallucination. 279 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:30,880 Speaker 1: It was a sign Tangier was changing. By nineteen fifty eight, 280 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 1: he left Tangier for Paris, following Ginsburg to the notorious 281 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:40,080 Speaker 1: Beat Hotel, a CD forty two room artist hangout, where 282 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: they rearranged Burrows's text by literally cutting it up and 283 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: spicing it back together. The cut up technique in Naked 284 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:51,199 Speaker 1: Lunch became Borrows's signature and later inspired the lyrics of 285 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 1: Mick Jagger, David Bowie and others. The result was a 286 00:19:55,240 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: series of semi connected stories that touched on everything political violence, bloodshed, withdrawal, addictions, 287 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 1: to drugs, to sex to power. The result was dark, 288 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: complicated work in many ways. Yes, it was obscene, but 289 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: did it have literary merit? Absolutely. Back in the Boston courtroom, 290 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: That's exactly what Allen Ginsburg testified when asked, he said, 291 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,119 Speaker 1: the book is a confession. The important thing that struck 292 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: me was the enormous courage it took to make such 293 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 1: a total confession. In his opinion, it was a work 294 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: of literary genius. The court disagreed. They upheld the band 295 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:44,720 Speaker 1: on Naked Lunch, but it didn't last long. Two months later, 296 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:48,640 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court overturned the decision. The case stands as 297 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,199 Speaker 1: the last obscenity trial of a work of literature in 298 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:56,199 Speaker 1: American history. As for William Burrows, the notoriety made him 299 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: a star. He rubbed elbows with Jimmy Page and Andy Warhol, 300 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: he appeared on Saturday Night Live. But no matter how 301 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 1: high he ascended, there was always something pulling him back 302 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: back to a warm, late summer night in Mexico City, 303 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: September of nineteen fifty one, the night a little party 304 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: trick went horribly wrong, The night William S Burrows took 305 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: a shot and wound up taking a life. We'll be 306 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: right back after this. We're we're, We're in the darkness. 307 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: He can only hear the voice screaming. William Burrows blindly 308 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:51,240 Speaker 1: pushed his way through an unfamiliar building. It was the 309 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: dead of knight. He was half asleep. He ran his 310 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 1: hand along the way until he finally found a door. 311 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: It swung open, and he can now see clearly in 312 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: the moonlight, Mexico City, outside the Bounty Bar, his favorite hangout. 313 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: His four year old son lying on the dirt road, sobbing, 314 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 1: begging for help. His mother, Joan Volmer Borrows, His wife 315 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: was nowhere to be seen. Borrows grabbed the boy, pulling 316 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,400 Speaker 1: him tight to his chest. He whirled around and then 317 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: he saw them, men and women surrounding him, all dressed 318 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 1: in black and white convict suits, screaming something pointing at him. 319 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,159 Speaker 1: He couldn't make it out at first, but then the 320 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:43,159 Speaker 1: word hit him. Guilty, guilty, guilty. They were screaming it 321 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:47,439 Speaker 1: over and over. Then they were all around everywhere. He 322 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: turned in circles, trying to find a gap. As they 323 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: continued to step forward, closing in. William Burrows awoke from 324 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: his dream with a start. He could hear the whine 325 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: of mosquitoes, the rustling of bats, calls from god knows 326 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: what out in the jungle. This wasn't Mexico City. He 327 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: was in the Amazon rainforest, on the hunt for the 328 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: answer to all of his problems, the miracle drug that 329 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:20,880 Speaker 1: could cure his heroin addiction, Yeah better known as ayahuasca. 330 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 1: The natives claimed it could give you the power to 331 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: communicate telepathically and that it could cure addictions, addictions to sex, 332 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: addictions to drugs. In nineteen fifty one, William Burrows still 333 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,879 Speaker 1: held out hope for a respectable life. His grandfather was 334 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: an inventor who made a fortune on an early version 335 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,440 Speaker 1: of the adding machine, a fortune that, even now at 336 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: thirty seven years old, allowed Burrows's family to support him 337 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 1: with a monthly allowance. They wanted respectable things for him, too, 338 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 1: career family, but a drug addicted, failed writer with a 339 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: thing for other men was pretty far from their mid 340 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:06,199 Speaker 1: twentieth century vision of respectability. Next to Burrows on the 341 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: cot wasn't his four year old son or his wife, 342 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,199 Speaker 1: but his twenty one year old lover, Louis marker Well. 343 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: Lover was probably too strong of a word. Sure, Lewis 344 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: slept with Burrows, but he did so for money, and 345 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,959 Speaker 1: Louis did like the older man's wild stories and outrageous 346 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: sense of humor, but economics aside, Louis preferred the ladies. 347 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: He was slim, young and straight, which made him just 348 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: William Burrows's type. Unfortunately, their search for Yaye was a 349 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 1: complete bust. They never found the drug, and for the 350 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 1: last three days they'd been stuck on the front porch 351 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,120 Speaker 1: as some American botanists place, deep in the jungle while 352 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: rain poured down from above. In the darkness, Burrows tried 353 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 1: to shake off his nightmare. He looked over at Louis 354 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: sleeping next to him, and he knew he shouldn't reach out. 355 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: Louis was not one for affection, but still the nightmare 356 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: had been so real, and they were alone in the jungle. 357 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: Borrows stretched his arm over, looking for comfort, and Louis 358 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: pushed him away. Slack off man, get some rest. The 359 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:22,159 Speaker 1: rejection was too much. Tears poured down Burrows's cheeks. He 360 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: knew Louis would never love him. Deep inside, he also 361 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,239 Speaker 1: knew that no miracle drug could ever change him. A 362 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: wave of sadness washed over him, and then he thought 363 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,919 Speaker 1: about Joan alone with the children. It was time to 364 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: get back. On September first, nineteen fifty one, William Burrows 365 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: returned to Mexico City. He was relieved to find his 366 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: son Billy, safe and sound, but his wife Joan looked 367 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: stressed and totally strung out. She berated him for leaving 368 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: her alone, and they argued constantly. It depressed Burrows even more, 369 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,800 Speaker 1: rejected by Lewis and disappointing his wife. Pushing forty and 370 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,480 Speaker 1: never holding down a real job. Supposedly he was a writer, 371 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:11,040 Speaker 1: but without Alan Ginsburg and Jack Kerouac around to help him, 372 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,200 Speaker 1: his motivation had come to a standstill. His drinking got worse. 373 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:21,919 Speaker 1: He was washed up, hopeless. These thoughts bounced around in 374 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: his head as he walked away from John Healey's apartment 375 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,919 Speaker 1: and into town. He tried to cast them out, just 376 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:29,520 Speaker 1: as he was trying to rid his brain to that 377 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: last hallucination, the one where the decapitated dead mouse spoke 378 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,359 Speaker 1: to him. He watched the sun sink down to the horizon, 379 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,879 Speaker 1: like his life was sinking down with it. Enough of 380 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: this bullshit, he had to be around other people and 381 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 1: get out of his own head. William Burrows left his 382 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: own pity party and returned to the real party. Clearly 383 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:55,680 Speaker 1: he had some catching up to do. Everyone else was wasted. 384 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,199 Speaker 1: Joan was talking loudly to John, although it was to 385 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: make out her words. Gesturing with one hand, she knocked 386 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 1: over her purse pills of all shapes and colors when 387 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: flying under the carpet as she dove down and frantically 388 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:14,400 Speaker 1: started picking them up. Across the room, Louis was ignoring 389 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,199 Speaker 1: Burrows completely, his hand on a leggy blonde, laughing at 390 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:23,199 Speaker 1: one of his lame jokes. Burrows burned with jealousy. To 391 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 1: be rejected is one thing, but to be ignored that 392 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:31,719 Speaker 1: was something he simply could not stand. He fixed himself 393 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 1: a drink, mixing bad Mexican gin with a lime soda. 394 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,919 Speaker 1: He gulped it down, and then he had another and another. 395 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,879 Speaker 1: He felt a hundred pasent note in his pocket. Maybe 396 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: tonight was the night he could head back into town 397 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: to score six months clean, six months like six slow 398 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: drops in a bucket, fucket. He knew it wouldn't last. 399 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: As he reached for the money in his pocket, his 400 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:03,880 Speaker 1: hand grace the pistol. Maybe he could find some other 401 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,120 Speaker 1: way to entertain himself, some other way to make sure 402 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,320 Speaker 1: he had the full attention of everyone in the room. 403 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: Lewis always did love his outrageous sense of humor. Burrows 404 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,119 Speaker 1: stumbled to his feet. He watched as Joan continued to 405 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: grab pills off the dirty carpeted floor. He pulled out 406 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: the gun with a theatrical flourish and cocked it loudly. 407 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: Everyone in the room turned their eyes to him. He 408 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: had their undivided attention. He looked at his wife with 409 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:35,160 Speaker 1: a mischievous gleam in his eye, Darling, I think it's 410 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: time for our William Tell routine. The William Tell routine, 411 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: of course, was the one where Joan placed something on 412 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: the top of her head and Burrows shot it off 413 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: cleanly with one squeeze of the trigger on his three 414 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: to eighty pistol. It sent any party into a tissy. 415 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: As soon as he made the suggestion, the room grew quiet. 416 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,080 Speaker 1: The words hung there like a dare. Under the effects 417 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: of the booze and pills, Joan felt fearless. She stood up, 418 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: grabbed the highball glass and placed it on top of 419 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:12,880 Speaker 1: her head. She called her husband's bluff. Everyone continued to stare, 420 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: wondering what was going to happen next. No choice now 421 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: but to follow through, or so William Burrow's thought. He 422 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: also thought of the mouse he just shot a few 423 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: hours earlier. That was ten feet away. Joan was only 424 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 1: six feet in front of him. Easy shot. He took 425 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: a breath. She's just six feet away. Game high. He 426 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: raised the gun and he pulled the trigger. The shot 427 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: rang out. The glass fell to the ground in front 428 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: of him, spinning in concentric circles, wider and wider. He 429 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,520 Speaker 1: looked over at Joan, who was no longer standing. She 430 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,840 Speaker 1: was lying face down on the floor. Louis ran to 431 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: her side and rolled her over. He screamed. Blood trickled 432 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: out from a hole in her forehead. The bullet was 433 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:07,479 Speaker 1: lodged in her brain, and Joan Vohmer, William Burrows's wife, 434 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 1: was dead. 435 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:34,840 Speaker 2: Thrower fell slower throller throller throller flower thrower I Thrower Feller. 436 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: Nineteen eighty two Lawrence, Kansas. Sixty eight year old William 437 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:43,600 Speaker 1: Burrows raised the heavy twelve gage shotgun. He took gaim 438 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 1: without hesitation. He fired the gun, kicked back into his 439 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: shoulder as the shot rang out through the woods. It 440 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,320 Speaker 1: was immediately followed by another loud bang, this one coming 441 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:58,000 Speaker 1: from the spray paint can he was shooting at, which 442 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 1: was now spurting red liquid. Burrows grabbed a pair of 443 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:05,800 Speaker 1: shotgun shells and reloaded. He aimed at another spray paint can. 444 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 1: He blasted it and watched red paint go flying as 445 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 1: the pressurized can shot up one hundred feet into the 446 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: air before sailing back down and smashing into the ground 447 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: in front of his barn. The paint splashed against a 448 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: huge plywood canvas leaning against the side of the barn, 449 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 1: creating an eerie pattern of splatter marks pierced by buckshot. 450 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: He examined his work not bad. After the naked lunch 451 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,800 Speaker 1: obscenity trial, William Burrows returned to New York City as 452 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: a literary star in the seventies. He reveled in his 453 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:43,840 Speaker 1: newfound celebrity, entertaining famous guests like lou Reed, Andy Warhol, 454 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,280 Speaker 1: and David Bowie in a Lower East Side apartment he 455 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: called the Bunker. New York in the nineteen seventies was 456 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,480 Speaker 1: every bit as lawless as Tangier was in the nineteen fifties. 457 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 1: The city was a wash and heroin and it wasn't 458 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: long before he was hooked once again. That's how Borrows 459 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:04,080 Speaker 1: ended up here in the small college town of Lawrence, Kansas. 460 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:07,440 Speaker 1: Friends knew he wasn't doing well. They urged him to 461 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: get out of the city and away from temptation. Out 462 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: in the heartland and away from his drug connections, he 463 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: could mostly stay clean once again, a new addiction to 464 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: replace an old one, this time methadone, but also painting, 465 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:29,720 Speaker 1: painting with shotguns. It all started by accident. He was 466 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:32,440 Speaker 1: testing the site on a new twelve gage and by chance, 467 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 1: he fired it at a scrap piece of plywood. When 468 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: he came closer to look at the markings, the beauty 469 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:42,160 Speaker 1: of the striations where the buckshot damaged the woods struck him. 470 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: It was a perfect metaphor for his life, Beauty after destruction. 471 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: He experimented with the technique, and soon he was stringing 472 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:56,520 Speaker 1: up cans of spray paint above the plywood. They were pressurized, 473 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 1: so they exploded and went flying into the air after 474 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,760 Speaker 1: a direct hit. He loved the way they added random 475 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 1: splashes of color across the wood, like Jackson Pollock packing heat. 476 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 1: Every time he lined up a shot, he reminded himself 477 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:14,600 Speaker 1: to aim high. In aim high, he did. Even after 478 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 1: moving to Kansas, William Burrows only became more of a 479 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: counterculture icon. He was in the lexicon of modern rock. 480 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 1: Thurst and more of Sonic Youth, and Kirk Kobe and 481 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: from Nirvana made pilgrimages to visit him. The industrial group 482 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,000 Speaker 1: Ministry shot up Heroin in his living room during one 483 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:37,360 Speaker 1: of his many lapses. He collaborated with incredible singer songwriters 484 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 1: like Nick Cave and Tom Waits, and he was elected 485 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. But even 486 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: at this level of achievement, he had to continue to 487 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,000 Speaker 1: aim high, because he failed to do so once on 488 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: a warm summer night in Mexico City. The death of 489 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: his wife caused a major scandal south of the border 490 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 1: for shooting in killing Joan Volmer. William Burrows was arrested, 491 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: spending thirteen days in jail before his family bailed him out. 492 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,160 Speaker 1: The trial was delayed for years before he could finally 493 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:14,240 Speaker 1: leave the country. He was convicted of manslaughter in absentia 494 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:21,160 Speaker 1: and receives a two year suspended sentence. But no matter 495 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:25,719 Speaker 1: how high he aimed, death continued to haunt him. His 496 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:28,840 Speaker 1: son Billy succumbed to addiction and died at age thirty 497 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:31,600 Speaker 1: three of cirrhosis of the liver, the same thing that 498 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:37,040 Speaker 1: killed Jack Kerouac. Above all else, however, there was Joan. 499 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: It wasn't until nineteen ninety two Burrows claimed that he 500 00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: was able to help Joan's soul find peace with the 501 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:47,640 Speaker 1: help of a Native American shaman. Three years later, he 502 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:50,240 Speaker 1: was still wrestling with her ghost in his final book, 503 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:54,040 Speaker 1: My Education, A Book of Dreams, which he wrote at 504 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: the age of eighty one. William Burrows, on the other hand, 505 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: never found peace, no cure for his addictions. Instead, he 506 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 1: learned how to create beauty out of destruction shotgun paintings, 507 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 1: dark portraits of addiction. In his writing, William S. Burrows 508 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,799 Speaker 1: learned to channel his destructive impulses into his art. It 509 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:21,799 Speaker 1: saved his life. Unfortunately, he learned it too late to 510 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 1: save the life of his wife, Joan Vohmer, and that 511 00:35:26,520 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 1: is a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland 512 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:03,040 Speaker 1: was created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership 513 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found 514 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,719 Speaker 1: on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If 515 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:12,799 Speaker 1: you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you 516 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,759 Speaker 1: for supporting the show. 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