Rating: 
Summary: tragedy of a drifter
Review: A book of unreciprocated feelings, and longings amplified by withdrawel and junk sickness. This is a much more intimate and personal look into the life of William Burroughs than his other stuff. It takes place after he accidentally killed his wife, and he is sobering up and facing all of the demons and guilt previously dulled by the drugs.
This book was banned for a long time, the homosexual relationships and longings aren't grotesque exaggerations with shock value in mind like some of his other stories, they are very human and almost universal innocent boyish longings for affection.
He develops these "routines", funny stories he uses that show off his sarcasm and absurd sense of humor when he wants the attention of the room. All of the stories are hilarious and really show off his talent as a writer, but the people around him generally could care less or they just don't get it. So he is trapped always in a foreign land suspicious of everyone searching endlessly for islands of sanctuary.
Burroughs claims in the introduction that just reading the words and putting it down is very painful for him, but he did it so that he could move forward. A very intense time in the life of a brilliant and fascinating character.
Rating:
Summary: God, can you imagine a more easy read?
Review: A brilliant, bare book of an intense, one-way homosexual relationship, and the tale of unrequited love on any level. Burrough's describes the feeling of giving yourself and getting nothing in return beautifully. A must for the loved and lost masses. A good place to begin your Burroughs reading list as it's one of his most coherent books.
Rating:
Summary: Straigh Forward and Brilliant
Review: Burrough's earlier works are probably his best ones in my opinion. His later stuff is too abstract and too far out to make for an enjoyable read. However, this book tells a story in a simple and straight forward manner. I highly recommend this book as a good starting point to the world of William S. Burroughs. Some of the later stuff that features the infamous cut-up technique works better on his spoken word albums because that stuff is more like poetry anyway. Also, I should mention that the forward in this book is amazing and is some of my favorite writing by Burroughs.
Rating:
Summary: Another Type of Drug
Review: I bought this book earlier today, and I have just finished reading it. Of course it is not hard to read a 134 page book in a few hours, but what a moving experience it was! This was the second Burroughs book that I have read, the first being Junky, and like Junky this book is straight forward and brutally honest. Lee reminds me of a high school kid pining away over the girl of his dreams. But of course Burroughs is not a kid, and he is not pining overe a girl. It is almost painful reading this book, seeing how obsessed Lee is with the man he desires. He goes out of his way several times just to be with Allerton, and one unkind word from Allerton can destroy's Lee's ego. It is really a quite sad, and quite real sight to behold.This is a really good book that shows how much lust and desire can almost ruin a person. Also, as many have stated before, Burroughs does a wonderful job of describing 40s era Mexico city and several places in south america. Also the introduction is very awesome giving a short but poignant look at how Burroughs started writing. A good book check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny,pathetic,entertaining
Review: I enjoyed this book,even though it was straightforward and made sense(psycho Burroughs is my hero).It's a story about a guy trying to get some lurve from a boy who doesn't like him....awwww.Well,things get pretty pathetic and both stoop pretty low and do cheap things to satisfy their selfish needs.Supposedly this was based on Burroughs real life pursuit of some hard to get guy that he chased down The Hershey Highway.I recommend it to any fan of Burroughs or even non-fans who are gay and want a satisfying quickie.
Rating: 
Summary: burroughs disappoints
Review: I found queer to be a dissapointment. I loved Junky, and it is one of my favorite books, but queer was a let down. It takes place after junky ends and we follow William Lee around with his fascination with Eugene Allerton and his trip to South America. But the story isn't that interesting. There is more of a plot here than there was in junky, but I found Lee's struggles with heroin much more fascinating than his obssession over the boring Allerton. queer is told from an outside narrator rather than from Lee's perspective, and as a result, the voice that helped make junky so great is missing. It just doesn't match with the standards Burroughs set when he wrote Junky. If you are a Beat scholar, then this is a book you should read (it is one of Burroughs important works) or if you study gay literature, then you should read this. If you're just looking for a good book, reread Junky...
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable, insightful read.
Review: Queer is an unfinished novel set in Mexico City in the late 1940s, where "Lee" (Burrough's surrogate) is trying to "kick the Chinaman all the way out". In the introduction, Burroughs, tries to explain his emotional state:
"When the cover is removed, everything that has been held in check by junk spills out. The withdrawing addict is subject to the emotional excesses of a child or an adolescent, regardless of his actual age."
Lee bares a raw neediness that is all too human; he is a grown man in the throws of a schoolboy's infatuation. He makes a fool of himself struggling to impress an indifferent youth named Allerton, who acquiesces occasionally enough to egg Lee on. However, these moments of devil-may-care outrageousness are when Burrough's incredibly dark humor steals the book. For those of a certain bent, Queer contains several "cackle-out-loud moments" in what Burroughs calls his "routines" - free association storytelling of thoroughly perverse nature. The phrase "Corn Hole Gus' Used-Slave Lot" should convey enough, without giving away the punch lines.
It seems as though this book might be about sex, but I found it to be much more about desire. For sex, but also for reciprocity. For that reason, even those who are not "queer" may well enjoy it. Burroughs' cast of characters and scenes in the early part of the book show an underside of Mexico City that is likely long gone. And don't skip the introduction. Burroughs' stories about campesinos are almost too savagely silly to believe.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting voyage
Review: Queer is simply the follow up from Junky. It starts out in Mexico City around the same time that Junky ends. Lee is in the process of quitting junk, and is desperately trying to find a lover. He spends alot of his time trying to gain the interest of Eugene Allerton. Struggling to hold on to Allerton's attention, Lee offer's for Allerton to join him on a trip to South America in search of the telepathic drug Yage.
One thing that I love most about Burrough's is his travels. He goes so many new places and meets so many strange people. This book does alot of that. It's really interesting. A very easy read too. I recomend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting voyage
Review: Queer is simply the follow up from Junky. It starts out in Mexico City around the same time that Junky ends. Lee is in the process of quitting junk, and is desperately trying to find a lover. He spends alot of his time trying to gain the interest of Eugene Allerton. Struggling to hold on to Allerton's attention, Lee offer's for Allerton to join him on a trip to South America in search of the telepathic drug Yage.
One thing that I love most about Burrough's is his travels. He goes so many new places and meets so many strange people. This book does alot of that. It's really interesting. A very easy read too. I recomend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: BRILLIANT WRITING
Review: The 1985 introduction by the author is very poignant and valuable for a clear understanding of the novel. Especially the admission that it was the accidental death of his wife by his own hand that motivated and formulated his writing. Although Junky is great, Queer reveals a more human side to his work where one can actually empathize with the main character. His descriptions of Mexico City in the late 1940s and his circle of friends, many of whom were fellow American expatriates, lend a special air of magic to the writing. The flashes of humour are always unique and refreshing, eg. the amusing story of his fantasy trip to the "Upper Ubangi." A brilliant work whose many charms I intend to delve into again and again.
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