Burroughs _____slaps In Cold Blood

“You have written a dull and unreadable book which could have been written by any staff writer on The New Yorker (an undercover reactionary periodical dedicated to the interests of vested American wealth.) You have placed your services at the disposal of interests who are turning American into a police state by the simple device of deliberately fostering the conditions that give rise to criminality and then demanding increased police powers and the retention of capital punishment to deal with the situation they have created. You have betrayed and sold out the talent that was granted you by this department. That talent is now officially withdrawn. Enjoy your dirty money. You will never have anything else. As a writer you are finished. Over and out. Are you tracking me? Know who I am? You know me, Truman. You have known me for a long time. This is my last visit.”

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July 23, 1970. Quoted in Harper’s. It’s not known whether the letter was sent.