The Last Words of Dutch Schultz

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Title The Last Words of Dutch Schultz

1981 Seaver Books paperback edition.
Author William S. Burroughs
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Biographical, Novel
Publisher Cape Goliard
Released 1970
Media type Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages 81 pp
ISBN ISBN 020661764X

The Last Words of Dutch Schultz was a novel by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs, first published in 1969. Rather than use traditional chapters and text, however, Burroughs wrote the book in the form of a convoluted film screenplay.

Based upon the life (or, to be more precise, the death) of 1930s gangster Dutch Schultz, the novel uses as its springboard Schultz's surreal last words, which were delivered in the midst of high-fever delirium after being mortally shot while urinating in the men's room of a Newark bar. Phrases such as "French-Canadian bean soup" took on a different meaning for Burroughs as he invented stories to go along with some of the nonsensical statements made by Schultz in his dying hours.

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Although there have been occasional reports over the years of filmmakers wanting to adapt Burroughs' story for the screen, to date no one has seriously taken on the project. For a brief period, Dennis Hopper owned the rights to the film, but nothing ever came to fruition. The closest it has ever come to being filmed is a 2002 Dutch short combining live action and rotoscope animated scenes. The short only features portions of Burrough's script, with some segments varying slightly from the source material. The film features Rutger Hauer as the voice of Schultz.

A similar novel-cum-screenplay is 1992's Reality Is What You Can Get Away With: An Illustrated Screenplay by Robert Anton Wilson.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • Transcript of Schultz's last words that inspired Burroughs' novel.