Speed, by William S. Burroughs Jr.

Speed, by William S. Burroughs Jr. 1970 first printing paperback. 191 pages, very nice condition, small bit of marker on the cover.

Speed, first published in 1970, was the first of three published works by William S. Burroughs, Jr., the son of the Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs. It is an autobiographical novel about the ins and outs of the life of a methamphetamine addict. It starts out with Burroughs in his grandmother's house in Florida and moves to the streets of New York. It is written in the straight narrative style. Throughout the book the life of the speed addict is explored and the stories of how Burroughs got from being a teenage speed-freak to getting arrested and tried for forging a prescription is touched upon. Speed was almost rejected by its publisher due to its crude themes, such as the in-depth sex scene between Burroughs and his child love, Maria.