Junkie

Droga wins by default.

Burroughs' first novel, in which the author attempts to capture his experience with drugs "in the most precise and simple words possible".

An unexcited childhood in the American Midwest. And also fear of nightmares and physical violence, hallucinations and shyness. Enjoys fishing, hunting, hiking and reading. Emptiness giving way to solitary adventures and burglaries. Studying English literature at a prestigious American university he hated. Hanging around Europe, gay hangouts. After returning home, a life of annuities, flunkies and psychotherapy. He was struck off as an "incorrigible liar". Occasional jobs as a ratcatcher, private detective, bartender, laborer. Living on the edge and addicted to drugs. And there's no reason to start with them...

"Droga wins by default. I tried it as a curiosity. I was hanging around, and when a deal came up, I got a shot. I'm done with the habit."

The words of William S. Burroughs is chilling in the opening of his celebrated first novel. If drugs are a way of life, we have Burroughs' stage of life right there in the palm of our hands.

Recommended age: 18+