of Burroughs's acutely graphic description, and agonizingly candid confessions: traits that would mark his literature for the next forty years. Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa wrote that while he did not care for Burroughs's subsequent experimental fiction, he admired the more straightforward Junky both on its own merits and further as "an accurate description of what I believe to be the literary vocation"; i.e., the all-consuming nature of writing as similar to addiction. Recorded performances At least three recordings have been issued featuring readings from this book. Some time in the late 1960s or early 1970s, Burroughs recorded an extensive passage from the book which was issued on a record album. Later, in the 1990s, two audiobook editions were released, one read by actor David Carradine, and another read by Burroughs himself. Editions Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict. An Ace Original. William Lee. New York, NY: Ace Books, 1953. (No assigned ISBN. LC Control Number: 92183851) Junky: Originally Published as Junkie Under the Pen Name of William Lee. William S. Burroughs with an introduction by Allen Ginsberg. 1st complete and unexpurgated edition. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Penguin Books, 1977. Junky: the definitive text of 'Junk'. William S. Burroughs; edited and with an introduction by Oliver Harris. New York: Penguin Books, 2003. References 1953 American novels 1953 debut novels 1950s LGBT novels Ace Books books American autobiographical novels Beat novels Metafictional novels Novels about drugs Novels by William S. Burroughs Novels set in New York City Opioids in the United States Works published under a pseudonym