The road to hell -- Blame it on Brahms -- Welcome to your destiny -- Journey of no return -- From psychiatric hospital to farm -- The farm has visitors -- Risky business in New York -- Last stop, New Orleans -- The gods know how to run this world -- ¡Viva Mexico! -- Nation of copycats -- Arrival in Tenochtitlan -- From veteran to student -- My most unforgettable character -- The devil's advocate -- A writer's beginnings -- The usual suspects -- Lola la Chata -- Excitable Joan -- On the road -- The scorpion -- Not so lovely and beloved Mexico -- The tortured cat -- The bounty -- Drowning in drink -- Various incidents -- The elusive lover -- There goes the neighborhood -- Jungle journey -- Under the volcano -- The stray bullet -- The trial -- The ugly spirit -- Monday, signature day -- Queer -- Man of letters -- The return of Jack -- An overcoat thief in Mexico -- The departure -- The parting shot -- A contribution from Mexico to the world.
Summary:
William Burroughs arrived in Mexico City in 1949, having slipped out of New Orleans while awaiting trial on drug and weapons charges that would almost certainly have resulted in a lengthy prison sentence. Still uncertain about being a writer, he had left behind a series of failed business ventures--including a scheme to grow marijuana in Texas and sell it in New York--and an already long history of drug use and arrests. He would remain in Mexico for three years, a period that culminated in the defining incident of his life: Burroughs shot his common-law wife, Joan Vollmer, while playing William Tell with a loaded pistol. (He would be tried and convicted of murder in absentia after fleeing Mexico.) First published in 1995 in Mexico, where it received the Malcolm Lowry literary essay award, The Stray Bullet is an imaginative and riveting account of Burroughs's formative experiences in Mexico, his fascination with Mexico City's demimonde, his acquaintances and friendships there, and his contradictory attitudes toward the country and its culture. Mexico, Jorge García-Robles makes clear, was the place in which Burroughs embarked on his "fatal vocation as a writer." Through meticulous research and interviews with those who knew Burroughs and his circle in Mexico City, García-Robles brilliantly portrays a time in Burroughs's life that has been overshadowed by the tragedy of Joan Vollmer's death. He re-creates the bohemian Roma neighborhood where Burroughs resided with Joan and their children, the streets of postwar Mexico City that Burroughs explored, and such infamous figures as Lola la Chata, queen of the city's drug trade. This compelling book also offers a contribution by Burroughs himself--an evocative sketch of his shady Mexican attorney, Barnabe Jurado--as well as previously unpublished letters written by Burroughs from Mexico.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.