Interviews and writings with and by W.S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and members of Throbbing Gristle. Heavily illustrated and with reference lists from each interviewee: book lists, audio and other recommendations.

This book is literally bursting with subversive ideas regarding self-defense, the possibility of Revolution, utopias, assassination, con men and politicians, lost inventions, turning points in history, the JFK killing, dreams, ideal education, the cut-up theory (and practice) for producing prophetic writing, and so much more.

Brion Gysin (1916-86) has been an incredibly influential artist and iconoclast: his development of the "cut-up" technique with William S. Burroughs has inspired generations of writers, artists and musicians. Gysin was also a skilled networker and revered expat: together with his friend Paul Bowles, he more or less constructed the post-beatnik romanticism for life and magic in Morocco, and was also a protagonist in an international gay culture with inspirational reaches in both America and Europe. Not surprisingly, Gysin has become something of a cult figure. One of the artists he inspired is Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, who collaborated with both Gysin and Burroughs in the 1970s, during his work with Throbbing Gristle and COUM Transmissions. The interviews made by P-Orridge have since become part of a New Wave/Industrial mythos. This volume presents them in their entirety alongside three texts on Gysin by P-Orridge, plus an introduction. This book is an exclusive insight into the mind of a man P-Orridge describes as "a kind of Leonardo da Vinci of the last century," and a fantastic complement to existing biographies and monographs.

In an inspired touch, RE/Search publisher V. Vale brought together the work of groundbreaking novelist William Burroughs and avant-garde painter Brion Gysin (already linked by their collaborations in the “cut-up” method of artistic creation) with the founders of industrial music, Throbbing Gristle, for this seminal document of ‘80s underground culture. Originally published in 1982, the book combined “primary source interviews,” in which subjects discuss advanced ideas involving the social control process, creativity, and the future; scarce essays; rare fiction excerpts; bibliographies; discographies; and biographies. The book quickly became a celebrated addition to RE/Search’s notorious list and to the canon of ‘80s subculture. This expanded edition contains previously unpublished interviews with Burroughs, Gysin, and Throbbing Gristle by V. Va≤ a new article on Throbbing Gristle with photographs; unseen photographs of Burroughs; and much more to satisfy both the Burroughs, Gysin, and Gristle completist and anyone who wants to make sense of the kinds of cultural assaults they embodied.

William S. Burroughs's fiction and essays are legendary, but his influence on music's counterculture has been less well documented—until now. Examining how one of America's most controversial literary figures altered the destinies of many notable and varied musicians, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll reveals the transformations in music history that can be traced to Burroughs. A heroin addict and a gay man, Burroughs rose to notoriety outside the conventional literary world; his masterpiece, Naked Lunch, was banned on the grounds of obscenity, but its nonlinear structure was just as daring as its content. Casey Rae brings to life Burroughs's parallel rise to fame among daring musicians of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, when it became a rite of passage to hang out with the author or to experiment with his cut-up techniques for producing revolutionary lyrics (as the Beatles and Radiohead did). Whether they tell of him exploring the occult with David Bowie, providing Lou Reed with gritty depictions of street life, or counseling Patti Smith about coping with fame, the stories of Burroughs's backstage impact will transform the way you see America's cultural revolution—and the way you hear its music.

Genesis P-Oridge, the legendary musician and artist from Manchester, opens his files to show the world never before seen texts, photos, artwork and magic. P-Orridge, whose Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV set the stage for modern industrial, punk and alternative music, comes clean on many of the issues surrounding his life, work and mystique. From the 1960s, when his art group the COUM Transmission set England on its ear, to his long career in music to the creation of his religion-as-a-joke-as-a-religion, Thee Temple Ov Psychic Youth, this book covers it all.