William Burroughs In Movies. January 25th @ Mayne Stage

William Burroughs postcard for sale @ Ebay.

           In Chevanston's humble opinion William Burroughs was the best of the beat writers. His best books present a very clear vision of what life was like on the edge in the forties and fifties. Junky is the quintessential book about life on heroin. It should be required reading for highschool and college students. Can't think of a better anti-drug book. Queer was an addendum to Junky and only recently published in 1985. A great book about life in the underworld of Mexico City in the forties. The main character is on the lookout for a mystical drug named yage among other things. These two books are great intro's to William Burroughs before attempting his masterpiece Naked Lunch. He was a huge influence on Hunter S. Thompson who wrote up his obituary for Rolling Stone in 1997.

             Presenting these films is the Psychotropic Film Society. Cursory internet search couldn't find their site save for the society in Washington D.C. The Mayne Stage will be showing a documentary about William Burroughs released in 1983 next Friday (this movie has never been screened in Chicago before). Included in the showing an experimental film that Mr Burroughs shot with friends in the fifties. To order tickets call the Mayne Stage @ 773-381-4551 or visit their website; tickets are ten bucks a piece. Showings on January 25th will be at 7:30pm and 10pm, lobby doors open at 6pm and 9pm respectively. As an added bonus there will be a special guest Graham Rae from the magazine Film Threat to discuss the films.