Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict - William Lee (Pseud. William Burroughs) 1953 - Ace Double Books, New York - First Edition A nice example of Burroughs' first published and perhaps most notorious book, in the "Ace Double" format with "Narcotic Agent" by Maurice Helbrant.. Protected in a black cloth clamshell case.

Published under the pseudonym William Lee (his mother’s maiden name) based widely on Burroughs’ experiences with heroin, AA Wyn’s cheap pulp fiction publishing house ‘Ace’ was the only one willing to risk printing something so controversial.

‘Burroughs' first novel, a largely autobiographical account of the constant cycle of drug dependency, cures and relapses, remains the most unflinching, unsentimental account of addiction ever written’.
  ‘Of all the Beat Generation writers, William S. Burroughs was the most dangerous. . . . He was anarchy’s double agent, an implacable enemy of conformity and of all agencies of control-from government to opiates.’ – Rolling Stone.

‘William was a Shootist. He shot like he wrote, with extreme precision and no fear.’ – Hunter S. Thompson.

‘A book of great beauty . . . . Burroughs is the only American novelist living today who may conceivably be possessed by genius.’ – Norman Mailer.

‘Burroughs voice is hard, derisive, inventive, free, funny, serious, poetic, indelibly American.’ – Joan Didion.

‘In 1953, at the height of American conformism and anti-communist hysteria, William S. Burroughs published Junky, an irresistible strung-out ode to the joys and perversities of drug addiction. . . . Junky eschews allegory for scrupulous realism. . . . More than anything else, Junky reads like a field guide to the American underworld.’ –
The Daily Beast.

‘Through junk neighbourhoods in New York, New Orleans and Mexico City, through time spent kicking, time spent dealing and time rolling drunks for money, through junk sickness and a sanatorium, Junky is a field report (by a writer trained in anthropology at Harvard) from the American post-war drug underground. Nurtured into being by fellow Beat Generation guru Allen Ginsberg, Junky is a cult classic that has influenced generations of writers with its raw, sparse and unapologetic tone. This definitive edition painstakingly recreates the author's original text word for word.’ [Penguin]

Reference: Maynard & Miles,
William S. Burroughs: A Bibliography, 1953-73, A1a.
Small paperback (size 16.3x10.7cm), pp. 149 [2 (publisher’s catalogue)]; 189. In publisher’s illustrated paper wrappers. Housed inbespoke black cloth clamshell case, red paper label lettered in black to spine.
  Condition: Near fine, light rubbing to paper, heavier along spine folds. Fine clamshell case.   Ref: 111452   Price: HK$ 10,000