Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader by Burroughs William S. & Grauerholz James & Silverberg Ira

Author:Burroughs, William S. & Grauerholz, James & Silverberg, Ira [Burroughs, William S.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Perseus Books Group
Published: 2007-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

“It will be obvious that I myself as an addict can only be a determined factor in someone else’s equation. It’s the old army game. Now you see me now you don’t.”

Question: “Mr. Martin, you say ‘give me a wall and a garbage can and I can sit there forever.’ Almost in the next sentence you say ‘All I want is out of here.’ Aren’t you contradicting yourself?”

“You are confused about the word ‘self.’ I could by God sit there forever if I had a self to sit in that would sit still for it. I don’t. As soon as I move in on any self all that self wants is to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Now there you sit in your so-called ‘self.’ Suppose you could walk out of that self. Some people can incidentally. I don’t encourage this but it happens and threatens to become pandemic. So you walk out of your body and stand across the room. Now what form would the being that walks out of your body have? Obviously it would have precisely your form. So all you have done is take the same form from one place to another. You have taken great trouble and pain (believe me there is no pain like flesh withdrawal consciously experienced) and you have gotten precisely back where you started. To really leave human form you would have to leave human form that is leave the whole concept of word and image. You cannot leave the human image in the human image. You cannot leave human form in human form. And you cannot think or conceive in non-image terms by mathematical definition of a being in my biologic film which is a series of images. Does that answer your question? I thought not.”

Question: “Mr. Martin, tell us something about yourself. Do you have any vices other than junk? Any hobbies? Any diversions?”

“Your vices other than junk I manipulate but do not share. Sex is profoundly distasteful to a being of my uh mineral origins. Hobbies? Chess. Diversions? I enjoy a good show and a good performer. Just an old showman. Well when you have to kill your audience every few years to keep them in their seats it’s about time to pack it in.”

Question: “Mr. Martin, I gather that your plan to move the show to planet Venus has, uh, miscarried. Is that correct?”

“Yeah it looks that way. The entire film is clogged.”

Question: “In that case, Mr. Martin, where will you go when you go if you go?”

“That’s quite a problem. You see I’m on the undesirable list with every immigration department in the galaxy. ‘Who him? Don’t let him out here.’”

Question: “Mr. Martin, don’t you have any friends?”

“There are no friends. I found that out after the crash. I found that out before the others. That’s why I’m still here. There are no friends. There are allies. There are accomplices. No one wants friends unless he is shit scared or unless he is planning a caper he can’t pull off by himself.

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