Speed (novel)
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| Speed | |
| Author | William S. Burroughs, Jr. |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Ira Cohen (photo) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Autobiographical novel |
| Publisher | Olympia Press |
| Publication date | 1970 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback & Hardback) |
| Pages | 176 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7004-0050-8 (first edition, paperback) |
Speed, first published in 1970, was the first of two published novels by William S. Burroughs, Jr., the son of the Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs.
Speed is an autobiographical novel about the ins and outs of the life of a methamphetamine addict. It starts out with Burroughs in his grandmother's house in Florida and moves to the streets of New York. It is written in the straight narrative style. Throughout the book the life of the speed addict is explored and the stories of how Burroughs got from being a teenage speed-freak to getting arrested and tried for forging a prescription is touched upon.
Burroughs' other work, Kentucky Ham is similar in some aspects to Speed and elucidates on the other adventures had by him after Speed was written.
Due to the author having an almost identical name to his more famous father, and because the book deals with themes often featured in his father's writings, Speed is often erroneously credited to the elder Burroughs.
