But it's easy to see in these notes the old sharpshooter found it comforting to view cats as kindred spirits. This isn't 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats,' by any means, and Fletch is no Rum-Tum-Tugger. It depends on what breed of humans you are referring to,' he writes, 'and of course, what cats.' For someone whose writing has always delighted in the shock of recognition - the varieties of human depravity are familiar, yet boundless - Burroughs' observations throughout 'The Cat Inside' are surprisingly forgiving. 'Someone said that cats are the furthest animal from the human model. As Bill puts it, 'Of course he wants food and shelter. Yet even cats have their 'routines,' like his fictional characters, and cats' hobo confidence-games make them the perfect sidekick in the Burroughs universe. Some of these outcasts were cats, apparently. Who knew that old and rusted, corrugated tin woodsman, William Burroughs, had a heart after all?įor all his tales of the debauched human condition in a score of books, old Bill in his later years claimed a cat-spirit as his Familiar and became friends with a succession of lean and hungry strays, dedicated hangers-on, and occasional visitors to his home in Lawrence, Kansas. But Bill's most 'off-Beat' book will surely strike a chord with anyone who has - or is! - a cat Inside. I postulate that cats started as psychic companions, as Familiars, and have never deviated from this function.' This is a shamanic departure from typical Burroughs or his contemporaries. But there comes to him a startling revelation '.and now the creature is clearly recognized as a cat spirit, a Familiar. This resembles the vaguely disturbing imagery of classic Burroughs, to be sure. He reveals a recurring sensation from his earliest childhood of cuddling a small, trusting, but long-unidentifiable creature, and to realize much later he was 'cast in the role of the Guardian, to create and nurture a creature that is part cat, part human, and part something as yet unimaginable, which might result from a union that has not taken place for millions of years'.

Burroughs' affiliation with the Cat is on a quite archetypal level. But it would be a mistake to label this book of recollections a 'Warm & Fuzzy'. Any cat-person will identify with Burroughs' pleasure in the affection and antics of his feline friends and his heart-breaking grief in their loss. These are his numerous and beloved cats, with names like Calico Jane, Fletch, Rooski, Wimpy, and Ed. Burroughs introduces us to the real-life creatures who accompanied him throughout his tumultuous career and particularly during his old age.

In contrast, in this slim volume, William S. The Elder Statesman of the Beat Generation is best known for the fantastic creatures of his drug-induced fantasies and nightmares: the Reptiles and Mugwumps of 'Naked Lunch', the ramora-like pseudo-human parasites of 'Junkie', and others too loathesome to mention.

The cat inside by william s burroughs