
William S. Burroughs (Bunker, New York), May 1981. Foto: © Ulrich Hillebrand (kultur-online.net)
Burroughs was an American novelist and one of the main figures in Beat Generation which was a group of authors whose literature explored and influenced American culture in the post-World War II era. Burroughs’s Naked Lunch was a seminal work, under the influence of a substance. He found love in cats what he couldn’t in human.
William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs, or his pen-name William Lee was an American novelist, short story writer, satirist, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer.
He is well known as a primary figure for Beat Generation. Although, Burroughs was not enthusiastic about the Beat movement
like Ginsberg. On the contrary, he cultivated interest and love for animals like specter lemur and cats.
The Cat Inside Quotes (goodreads)
The Value of Cuteness

‘Danger Series’ – Portrait of William S Burroughs in front of the Théâtre Odeon
by Brion Gysin (Naked Lunch series, Paris Oct 1959) (October Gallery)
Ten William S. Burroughs Quotes About Cats (THOUGHT CATALOG)
Cats as Psychic Companions

Burroughs by Gysin (3:AM MAGAZINE)
It’s said that cats changed his dreams. As Burroughs called his cats psychic companions
, they allowed his wounded inner child come out.
Ten William S. Burroughs Quotes About Cats (THOUGHT CATALOG)
Who Do You Want to Be Loved?

William Burroughs and his cats (Pinterest)
Once Burroughs was asked by Allen Ginsberg, another main figure in the Beat Generation in their later years. Do you want to be loved?
Depends… By who or by what?
Burroughs answered By my cats, certainly.

97 Things You Didn’t Know About William S. Burroughs (FLAVORWIRE)
Ten William S. Burroughs Quotes About Cats (THOUGHT CATALOG)
Of all the ups and downs, wild stories of Burroughs’s life, the most important and the kept secret came to him last. Once he was a well-known hater for cats. He came to find love and redemption through his cats.
The Cat Inside
You can feel his simple innocence and genuine love for cats through his book The Cat Inside.
Get your copy on Amazon: The Cat InsideOriginally published as a limited-edition volume, this moving and witty discourse on cats combines deadpan routines and dream passages with a heartwarming account of Burroughs’s unexpected friendships with the many cats he has known.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD AVEDON / “WILLIAM BURROUGHS, NEW YORK, JULY 9, 1975”/© THE RICHARD AVEDON FOUNDATION (THE NEW YORKER)
Ten William S. Burroughs Quotes About Cats (THOUGHT CATALOG)
Reference
The Cat Offers Itself (VICE)
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Also published on Medium.
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