🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs was an American noted published author of fictional novels. He was born on February 5, 1914 and passed away on August 2, 1997. He also went by the name William Lee. The ‘S’ in his name stands for Seward. He was born one of two sons to his father Mortimer Perry Burroughs and his wife, Laura Hamon Lee. They lived in St. Louis, Missouri. His grandfather William Seward Burroughs with whom he shared the same name had founded a company called the Burroughs Adding Machine company, which would later be known as the Burroughs Corporation. His brother Ivy Lee would work in advertising and then later as a publicist. Mortimer ran a gift shop that featured antiques in St. Louis and then Palm Beach, Florida when the family moved there.
All Book Series by William S. Burroughs
And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks
Series opener · book 1 of 12 · published 1945 Co-authored · Jack Kerouac
Minutes To Go
Book 4 of 12 · published 1960 Co-authored · Brion Gysin,Gregory Corso,Sinclair Beiles
Rules Of Duel
Latest in the series · book 12 of 12 · published 2010 Co-authored · Graham Masterton
The Yage Letters
Series opener · book 1 of 13 · published 1963 Co-authored · Allen Ginsberg
Cairo
Series opener · book 1 of 6 · published 1994 Co-authored · T.E. Lawrence,Naguib Mahfouz,Michael Palin,Beryl Markham,John Miller,KirstenMiller
Prague: Tales of the City
Book 3 of 6 · published 1994 Anthology · John Miller,KristenMiller
St. Petersburg
Book 5 of 6 · published 1995 Anthology · John Miller,KirstenMiller
Istanbul
Latest in the series · book 6 of 6 · published 1995 Anthology · John Miller,KristenMiller
The Olympia Reader: An Anthology of Erotic & Literary Classics
Series opener · book 1 of 17 · published 1965
Gray Barker's Bigfoot Shootout! Terrifying Tales of Interspecies Conflict
Book 14 of 17 · published 2014
Imperial Youth Review 3: The Giant-Sized Sex Issue
Book 16 of 17 · published 2016
Scenes Along the Road: Photographs of the Desolation Angels, 1944-1960
Latest in the series · book 17 of 17 · published 1985
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is William S. Burroughs?
William S. Burroughs was an American noted published author of fictional novels. He was born on February 5, 1914 and passed away on August 2, 1997. He also went by the name William Lee.
Which William S. Burroughs series should I start with?
The best place to start is the Nova Trilogy series, the earliest of William S. Burroughs's multi-book series: it opens with The Soft Machine (1961) and runs to 3 books across 1961–1964, ending with Nova Express (1964). William S. Burroughs's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has William S. Burroughs written?
William S. Burroughs has 64 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1945 and 2018. 12 of them belong to 3 named series — the largest being the Chronicles Abroad series with 6 books — and 52 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should William S. Burroughs's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. William S. Burroughs's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Nova Trilogy (1961–1964, 3 books), Red Night Trilogy (1981–1987, 3 books) and Chronicles Abroad (1994–1995, 6 books).
How are William S. Burroughs's books organised into series?
This guide splits William S. Burroughs's 64 books into 3 named series and 52 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Chronicles Abroad (6 books, 1994–1995); Nova Trilogy (3 books, 1961–1964); Red Night Trilogy (3 books, 1981–1987).