The troubled life of Queer writer William S. Burroughs, one of the 20th century’s most influential artists, is explored in an illuminating new documentary.
The cult author of such seminal works as Junkie and Naked Lunch is the subject of director Yony Leyser’s William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, a probing look at the writer who lived to tell about the extremes of drug and queer cultures. Leyser incorporates rare archival photos and interviews as well as new ones with luminaries like punk poet–singer Patti Smith (who admits to borrowing lyrics from him) and director Gus Van Sant (who cast Burroughs in Drugstore Cowboy for authenticity). …read more
