Oliver Harris' "William Burroughs and the Secret of Fascination" (2003)

Carbondale, Illinois, US: Southern Illinois University Press (book, essay), 2003.
9.25" x 6.25" x 1", 288 pages, hardcover, ISBN 0-8093-2484-9.

William Burroughs and the Secret of Fascination by Oliver Harris, as published in hardcover by Southern Illinois University Press (Carbondale, Illinois, US) in 2003. As noted on the front flap: "His book is both a work of investigative scholarship that draws on rare access to manuscripts to unearth a secret history behind the received story of Burroughs the writer and an inquiry into the experience of being fascinated, its enigmatic psychology and seductive allure." Cover image of Burroughs is by Allen Ginsberg, Fall 1953.

I brought this copy with me on a trip to London in September 2026, and the author inscribed it during the EBSN (European Beat Studies Network) London Interzone event.

Contents: 

• Preface
• List of Abbreviations
• 1. The Secret of Fascination
• 2. Junkie: The Procedure Here Is More or Less Impersonal
• 3. Queer: Welcome to Your Destiny
• 4. Queer Letters and Yage Letters
• 5. The Real Novel
• 6. Naked Lunch: Master-Pieces
• Notes 
• Works Cited
• Index