William Lee [pseudonym of William Burroughs] / Maurice Helbrant; Junkie / Narcotic Agent (Ace Double Novel Books, D-15) New York: Ace Books 1953. 1st Edition. 149, 2 ad, 169 pages. Mass Market Paperback.
Good+/wraps. Spine crease, light edgewear, text tone, light warp, corner crease, otherwise light wear. Solid mass market paperback.
First edition of William S Burroughs first novel, a semi-autobiographical account of his drug addiction and drug dealing, published as an Ace Double Books, two books in one, back-to-back with an abridged edition of Helbrant's memoir in narcotics law enforcement. "Entitled Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict and authored pseudonymously by "William Lee" (Burroughs' mother's maiden name – he didn't look too far for a nom de plume), the Ace original retailed for 35 cents, and as a "Double Book" was bound back-to-back with Narcotic Agent by Maurice Helbrant. The two-books-in-one format was not uncommon in 1950s America, but besides the obvious similarity in subject matter, AA Wyn, Burroughs' publisher, felt that he had to balance such an unapologetic account of drug addiction with an abridgment of the memoirs of a Federal Bureau of Narcotics agent, which originally appeared in 1941." - Will Self; "William Burroughs - the original Junkie"; The Guardian, 1 Feb 2014. Morgen Hickey; The Bohemian Register: An Annotated Bibliography of the Beat Literary Movements; 107.12. Ian Young; The Male Homosexual In Literature: A Bibliography; 2280. First edition of William S Burroughs' novelized, gritty embrace of his heroin addiction.
American Literature - 20th Century Drug Abuse - Fiction True Crime - Vice First Novel Beat Generation Beat Literature Drug Addiction Heroin Addiction Drug Culture Alienation Hickey 107.12 Young 2280 Freewill

Good+/wraps. Spine crease, light edgewear, text tone, light warp, corner crease, otherwise light wear. Solid mass market paperback.

6.5 x 4.12 x 0.63 in