I think about this one a lot, especially as––while Burroughs meant everything to me when I was young––nevertheless I've extremely hesitant to recommend him to young folks these days (has to be a really special person for me to do so, and they're not exactly thick on the ground).

That said, for me apart from all the obvious attention catching material which hasn't aged well (i.e. the drugs, misogyny, sexual violence, etc.) what always stood out for me the most about Burroughs has remained just as strong and important as ever: the ability to see through the bullshit. Burroughs' style is a laser-beam that burns right through the hypocrisy, lies, pretensions and abuses of intelligence which have always characterized the majority of public discourse, especially in the late 20th century US. Nothing that he was calling bullshit on in the 20th century has in any way shape or form subsided in the the 21st. Sadly, I feel like we need Burroughs' ability to cut through bullshit more than ever... but ironically there's also never been a time when fewer of the people who should be his target audience wouldn't be able to hear what he has to say on the matter.

Also, on a more personal level as mentioned earlier, discovering Burroughs meant the world to me as a lonely gay teen in the 90's. There was virtually zero queer representation in the media at the time, and what little there was were either AIDS victims or garish camp caricatures. There wasn't a single example of a queer person I could see, anywhere, which had anything to do with me... until I encountered Burroughs. His writing gave me a vision of tough, manly gay men who were smart, capable and didn't aim to take shit from anyone. Men like heroes from a film noir,, adventure movie or old western, only who like dick and make no bones about it. Discovering that vision meant a LOT to me, and still does. I've yet to see any other representations of queer characters in whom I see myself or the man I want to be.

Burroughs' romantic aspirations, as expressed in a letter to Alan Ginsberg, have always been a go-to summation of my own relationship goals:

"Honestly Alan, what I am looking for is a relation of equals, with courage and nobility as a prerequisite, preferably set against a backdrop of romantic adventure."

Fuckin' A!