The book remained unpublished until 1985. Burroughs famously claimed he had not read the manuscript in thirty years because of the trauma it represented—specifically his "possession" by what he called the "Ugly Spirit," a malicious force he felt compelled him toward the tragic events in Mexico. Plot and Major Themes
Written in the early 1950s but shelved for over three decades, remains one of the most raw and vulnerable entries in the William S. Burroughs