Overview

'If you simply follow Burroughs through the rock 'n' roll years you'll see him achieve a flickering ubiquity - lurking here, eavesdropping there, photobombing the whole parade. It becomes a kind of alternative history' NEW YORK TIMES Reissued with a new Foreword as part of White Rabbit's prestigious Deep Cuts series, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll tells the story of a man Patti Smith described as 'up there with the pope' through the prism of his impact on pop music. William S. Burroughs's fiction and essays are legendary, but his influence on music's counterculture has been less well documented - until now. Examining how one of America's most controversial literary figures altered the destinies of many notable and varied musicians, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll reveals the transformations in music history that followed in his wake. 'Casey Rae's book is a labour of love that offers a map to understanding Burroughs' complex relationship to music and other art forms' CHRIS STEIN, co-founder of BLONDIE

Full Product Details

9781399638715

Table of Contents

Reviews

The ultimate guide to Burroughs as counter-cultural contagion -- David Keenan There's a brilliant idea behind Casey Rae's William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll, which is that if you simply follow Burroughs through the rock 'n' roll years you'll see him achieve a flickering ubiquity - lurking here, eavesdropping there, photobombing the whole parade. It becomes a kind of alternative history * New York Times * A timely reminder of the Pope Of Dope's influence on good music as well as tedious transgressive sludge. ""Once you start looking, Burroughs is everywhere,"" Rae writes. ""It's like a game of Where's WaMo? with a killer soundtrack.' * Uncut *

Author Information

Casey Rae is the director of music licensing for SiriusXM and a longtime music critic whose work has been featured in a wide array of publications. His commentary on technology's impact on creators has appeared on NPR and in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Billboard, and other media outlets. An adjunct professor at Georgetown University and a course developer for Berklee Online, Rae is also a musician and played with several bands in the 1990s.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available