Queer

Originally written in 1952 but not published till 1985, <i>Queer </i>is an enigma - both an unflinching autobiographical self-portrait and a coruscatingly political novel, Burroughs' only realist love story and a montage of comic-grotesque fantasies that paved the way for his masterpiece, <i>Naked Lunch</i>. Set in Mexico City during the early fifties, <i>Queer </i>follows William Lee's hopeless pursuit of desire from bar to bar in the American expatriate scene. As Lee breaks down, the trademark Burroughsian voice emerges; a maniacal mix of self-lacerating humor and the Ugly American at his ugliest. A haunting tale of possession and exorcism, <i>Queer </i>is also a novel with a history of secrets, as this new edition reveals.