New arrival from Moloko+:
William Burroughs/Oliver Harris – Roosevelt after Inauguration redux
Oliver Harris’s latest Burroughs study scrutinises the background and publication history of the obscene pamphlet Roosevelt after Inauguration that William Burroughs wrote in 1953. Harris’s meticulous research and expertise make this book another fine edition in Moloko’s steadily growing Burroughs series. Elegantly written as usual, the book is a pleasure to read and provides the reader with an abundance of interesting details, such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s initial refusal to publish the pamphlet and Amiri Baraka’s arrest for having done so. The pamphlet itself has been printed facsimile of the original manuscripts and has also been expertly translated into German by author, translator and publisher Udo Breger. Add to this Robert Schalinski’s delightful book design and cover art by Italian artist Elia Inderle, and this book is a real must for all Burroughs fans.
“Hoodlums and riffraff of the vilest calibre filled the highest offices of the land”, the back of the cover quotes from Burroughs’s pamphlet. It’s a phrase that echoes biographies of the infamous Roman teenage emperor Elagabalus (or Heliogabalus), who for four years ruled and perverted his empire in the early 3rd century. For some reason the many similarities between Burroughs’s pamphlet and Elagabalus’s biographies (Antonin Artaud wrote one in 1933) have been overlooked in this edition, but will no doubt be scrutinised by Oliver Harris in due course. Read more & order →