William Burroughs: Letters from Tangier and Final Words

A new French edition by Christian Bourgois reprints William Burroughs' letters to Allen Ginsberg from 1953 to 1957, revealing a passionate man beneath the cynical facade. Written from Tangier, where Burroughs fled after accidentally killing his wife, the letters show his love for Ginsberg transcending drug addiction and the mediocrity of the era. He lived in squalid hotels with only his typewriter and doses for company, suffering nightmares of being pursued by centipedes. These letters inspired his novel Naked Lunch. The volume also includes Les Terres occidentales (1987), the final part of a trilogy begun with Cities of the Red Night (1982) and The Place of Dead Roads (1986). Michel Bulteau described it as a journey into the poisoned Western civilization. Burroughs explores the afterlife using telephones to communicate, seeking immortality but falling back into artificial paradises. Finally, Ultimes paroles, written from his residence in Lawrence, Texas, reveals the acuity of a man reduced to a vegetative state. Yann Perreau provides commentary.