BURROUGHS, William [ pseud . William LEE.] Junkie. Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict.
SKU: 73877040992

BURROUGHS, William [ pseud . William LEE.] Junkie. Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict.

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BURROUGHS, William [ pseud . William LEE.] Junkie. Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict.You Dont Decide to Be an Addict. One Morning You Wake Up Sick and Youre an Addict BURROUGHS, William [pseud. William LEE.] Junkie. Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict. New York: Ace Books. 1953. [issued and bound with:] HELBRANT, Maurice. Narcotic Agent. New York: Ace Books. 1953. Publishers pictorial card wrappers; Junkie: pp. [ii], 149, [2 (publishers advertisements)], Narcotic Agent: pp. [ii], 169; rubbing to spine and creasing to both covers;

‘You Don’t Decide to Be an Addict. One Morning You Wake Up Sick and You’re an Addict’

BURROUGHS, William [pseud. William LEE.] Junkie. Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict. New York: Ace Books.1953.

[issued and bound with:]

HELBRANT, Maurice. Narcotic Agent. New York: Ace Books. 1953.

Publisher’s pictorial card wrappers; Junkie: pp. [ii], 149, [2 (publishers’ advertisements)], Narcotic Agent: pp. [ii], 169; rubbing to spine and creasing to both covers; uniformly toned, first 2 ff. of Junkie coming loose; old ink stamp of Burkes Used Book Store, Santa Ana, to first page of Junkie; otherwise a very good copy.

First edition, first impression of William Burroughs’s first published novel, a semi-autobiographical exploration of heroin addiction, withdrawal, and relapse in 1950s New York.

Burroughs, who had studied anthropology as a postgraduate from Harvard, developed an addiction to morphine following his move to New York and began selling heroin in Greenwich Village; arrested for forging a narcotics prescription in 1946, Burroughs subsequently fled to Mexico City in 1949 to avoid United States drug charges. In 1951 – by which time Junkie had largely been completed – he fatally shot his common-law wife, Joan Vollmer, during a drunken William Tell-style game in which he attempted to shoot a whiskey glass off her head.

Junkie was initially considered unpublishable; after numerous rejections, Burroughs (here writing under the pseudonym William Lee) turned to Ace Books through Carl Solomon (to whom Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’ is dedicated), a printer of cheap pulp fiction, Solomon’s uncle being the owner of the publishing firm; Ace had rejected Kerouac’s On the Road, and only published Junkie on the condition that its language would be censored.

It is printed dos-à-dos with the largely forgotten Narcotic Agent by Maurice Helbrant, an autobiographical account of the author’s work as an undercover agent for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Considering the disposable intention of the pulp novel, our copy is in uncommonly good condition.

SKU: 2122792

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SKU: 73877040992

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Alex899
New York, US
★★★★★ 5
Worth it!
Format: Paperback
Great book to help keep kids engaged and excited to tour through Paris. Recently used it on our trip with 5-8 year olds and had a blast searching for paintings in museums or various sites through the city. Had some interesting facts/history to share about the various places (although wish it had more)
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Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2025
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Kathryn Wetzel
Draper, US
★★★★★ 4
Kept a 10 year old engaged
Format: Paperback
I bought this for my 10 year old for our trip to Paris. It contained some activities that kept him interested during our museum/castle trips. It even lead us to Chateau de Vincennes which we wouldn’t have found on our own! The Louvre hunt had us going all over the place (mainly because he can’t leave anything incomplete) but it helped initiate conversations about history. The only issue is that the Notre Dame challenge is sadly impossible to complete now based on the fire in April. I also wish something would be added regarding Les Invalides. If you have elementary aged kids then I would highly recommend.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2019
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Amazon Customer
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Excellent addition to a trip
Format: Paperback
Just got back from Paris. My 9 year old daughter loved using this book throughout our adventures. It was light enough to carry with us each day and had a nice mix of information to read and things to look for. There were A LOT of different sites listed. In a week we still didn't get to some of them. Would definitely buy one of these books for another trip.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2025
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Cortessa Russell
Phoenix, US
★★★★★ 5
A must-have for Grade-schoolers going to Paris
Format: Paperback
This was an absolutely wonderful Secret Agent Spy book that kept our kids engaged throughout our time in Paris. I bought a copy for each of our three children. This book was perfect for my 8 and 9 year-old, my 6 year old was only moderately engaged. It could be her personality, it could be her age. But what this book did do was bring to life the main tourist attractions we were dragging them to. We spent 4 hours at the Louvre, and once we were done with that Mission, my older two were immediately wanting to move on to the missions that took place just outside the Louvre. The writing is appropriate without being condescending or too simple. Highly recommend this for any grade-schooler. May be ok for middle schoolers too. Thanks Catherine Aragon!
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Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2019
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Percy's mom
Boise, US
★★★★★ 5
A must read
Format: Kindle
I always look forward to Kris Bryant's books. Scandalous did not disappoint.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2025

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