by William S. Burroughs

Edited with and Introduction by Oliver Harris - 25th Anniversary Edition (Penguin Modern Classics)

"Queer is a major work, Burroughs heart laid bare" - Allen Ginsberg

Originally written in 1952 but not published until 1985 due to its outspoken depiction of homosexual desire. Queer is an unflinching autobiographical self-portrait and a coruscating political novel, Burroughs's only realist love story and a comic-grotesque fantasy that paved the way for his masterpiece Naked Lunch.

Set in Mexico City during the early fifties, Queer follows William Lee's hopeless pursuit of an apathetic young man called Eugene Allerton from bar to bar in the American expat scene.  As Lee breaks down, Burroughs's trademark voice emerges; a maniacal mix of self-lacerating humour and the Ugly American at his ugliest.  A haunting tale of possession and exorcism, Queer is also a novel with a history of secrets, as this new edition reveals.