"The Three Wives of Queer William S. Burroughs" (2026)

Scotland: Beatdom Books (history, book, biography), 2026.
8.5" x 5.5" x 1", 418 pages, softcover, ISBN 978-1-0686980-5-7.

The Three Wives of Queer William S. Burroughs, an exploration of the three "wives" of William S. Burroughs by Thomas Antonic, as published by Beatdom Books (Scotland) in 2026. Cover design by Krzysztof Klejzerowicz. 

This deep work of research spends up to page 265 deeply exploring the history of Burroughs' marriage to Ilse Herzfeld Klapper, whom he married to save her from the Nazis. Discussion of Ilse returns between pages 327 and 364.

Between pages 265 and 326, Antonic discusses Burroughs' common-law relationship with Joan Vollmer, which ended when Burroughs negligently shot her in Mexico City. 

Finally, Antonic provides pages 365 to 383 to new research revealing that Burroughs married a Mexican national, María Lucrecia Barquera, while with Joan Vollmer, to avoid extradition from Mexico back to the United States. 

This copy was acquired directly from the publisher (David S. Wills), along with a second copy.

Contents: 

• Introduction
• 1. "The White Russian Countess: What we know about Ilse Herzfeld before starting our own research"
• 2. "'A White Russian cab driver?' New findings in the Ted Morgan Papers and first photographs of Ilse Herzfeld"
• 3. "Typing for the revolutionary: Ilse Herzfeld and Ernst Toller"
• 4. "The Herzfeld family"
• 5. "Franziska Herzfeld: Philosopher and author"
• 6. "Franziska Herzfeld in exile"
• 7. "With Burroughs in Albania: Herbert Schlüter's exile / Ilse Herzfeld's wedding with Burroughs in Athens"
• 8. "Heinrich Klapper: Ilse Herzfeld's first husband and Burroughs' Dada connection"
• 9. "'Snakes sob from the sky': Ilse Herzfeld as poet and essayist"
• 10. "Doctor Dada: Heinrich Klapper and friends"
• 11. "'Wozze Hell! K. in P.!' The Secret Police file on Heinrich Klapper in Prague"
• 12. "The high society of the Weimar Republic in 'Klapper's Hotel'"
• 13. "Strange birds with lustful eyes: Ilse Herzfeld and Anita Berber as lovers"
• 14. "Misremembering strange children and crocodiles: Heinrich Klapper and Ado von Achenbach in Zaton Mali"
• 15. "Ilse Klapper No. 2 in the children's home"
• 16. "'Another piece of meat?' William S. Burroughs, Ilse Herzfeld, and Heinrich Klapper as characters in Schlüter's novel"
• 17. "'Further applications for approval of support payments for Mrs. Burroughs are pointless': Ilse Herzfeld's correspondence with Nazi authorities and her escape to the United States"
• 18. "Bach yes, Wagner no: Joan Vollmer in New York"
• 19. "High farmers: Joan Vollmer in Texas and Louisiana"
• 20. "A wild marriage: Joan Vollmer in Mexico"
• 21. "Joan Vollmer's death"
• 22. "Return to the Old World: Ilse Herzfeld after the Second World War"
• 23. "Fighting for restitution: Ilse Bleeck-Pultke"
• 24. "The death of 'our old, dear' Heinrich Klapper"
• 25. "No quarter for dirty cabbage eaters: Ilse Herzfeld's letters to Hans Gassebner"
• 26. "The divorce of Ilse Herzfeld and William S. Burroughs"
• 27. "María Lucrecia Barquera, the third wife of William S. Burroughs"
• Acknowledgments
• References
• Image sources
• Index