From an essentially creepy non-Buddhist

by prospectfalls

Posted to WritersAndGenres on 2001-05-09 19:05:00

Parent message is 27023
Sorry, this isn’t a direct reply to the message:
Dear Levi, I’ve been visiting Literary Kicks for a while now – invaluble info. on beat writing, music, discussion and theory, etc., so thanks for all your work.
However (you knew it was coming), I think you do a disservice to your normally well-considered editorial when in the commentary on Burroughs you intimate that “…while I admire his humor and talent with words, I find him the least appealing of the major Beat figures. Maybe this is because of his essential creepiness; it is a telling fact that he was the only major Beat figure not strongly influenced by Buddhist thought.”
I always thought that the admirable thing about Burroughs was his very refusal to conform to the prevailing Zen inclinations of the B. G.
You’ve got to be intuitive about why so many people turned to Buddhism at that time: the Beats generated media attention (and book sales), and suddenly a whole coffee-house load of writers began to declare their interest in Buddhism. Think there’s a connection?
To call someone creepy for not being influenced by Buddhism (does this mean actually being a Buddhist? the distinction is unclear) does no favours to your website, or even to Buddhism.
Burroughs’ work intentionally provoked responses from people with empirical systems of thought and behaviour. I guess every letter reaches its destination.
I don’t know. Build a great website and this is the thanks you get….