Born in 1947 to the writer William S. Burroughs and his common-law wife Joan Vollmer, William S. Burroughs, Jr. (known as Billy Jr.), would later describe himself as "your cursed-from-birth son." Cursed From Birth is a testimony to the difficulty of living in the turbulent wake of a famous father his famous and troubled friends, and a lucid, shattering depiction of a life going down the tubes.
Raised by his paternal grandparents in Palm Beach after his mother was killed by his father in a shooting accident, Billy saw his father become suddenly famous for Naked Lunch just as he became a teenager. Billy Jr.'s short life was defined by creating trouble to catch the attention of his father, mourning the death of his mother, descending into alcoholism and drug addiction, and reckoning with it all by beginning his own literary endeavors.
Compiled by writer David Ohle from Burroughs Jr.'s third and unfinished novel Prakriti Junction, his last journals and poems, and correspondence and conversations with those who knew Billy, Cursed from Birth is faithful to Billy's own intentions for a last artistic effort. With the sufferings — but not the patience — of Job, Billy Burroughs's life illustrates the fall of one "whom the gods would destroy". Cursed from Birth is the funny, tragic, angry, and stunning final statement from William S. Burroughs, Jr. — a casualty of the Beat generation.
Originally scheduled for publication in May 2001 by Grove/Atlantic, but withdrawn for legal reasons, the galleys that were distributed now sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars.

William S. Burroughs, Jr. was the author of two books, Speed and Kentucky Ham.
David Ohle is the author of Motorman, The Age of Sinatra, and the forthcoming Pisstown Chaos. His fiction has appeared in Esquire, Harper's, TriQuarterly and The Paris Review.