William S. Burroughs

1. (n) The name for that old, usually trench coated man at a party who has seemingly snuck in off the streets and stands in the background silently the whole time.

2. Original 1950's and 60's "Beat" era/generation writer, William Seward Burroughs is best known for the books Naked Lunch, Junkie, Queer and many others. Along with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, Burroughs helped move forward the literary movement of poetry and prose using and inventing techniques such as the Cut-Up and run-on stream of consciousness automatic writing. Burroughs is best known for vivid depictions of drug use, convoluted realities, surgeries, diseases, encyclopedic facts on any topic, sex scenes and shady characters such as the famous Dr. Benway who exist in corrupted and satiric versions of modern life. Burroughs was one of the first writers to report from the underworld of 40's and 50's America and Mexico, writing openly about his homosexuality, addiction to opiates and crime among other observations and experiences.