Mentored by a Madman: The William Burroughs Experiment

A. J. Lees relates how William S. Burroughs, the author of Naked Lunch and a troubled drug addict, inspired him to discover a groundbreaking treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Lees journeys to the Amazon rain forest in search of cures, and through self-experimentation he seeks to find the answers his patients crave. Burroughs is a ghostly mentor to Lees, influencing his methods of inquiry and encouraging him to be open-minded—a rarity in modern clinical practice. This is the story that Lees delayed writing for fear of professional ostracism, but here at last he “lets the cat out of the bag.” Mentored by a Madman is a powerful protest against bureaucracy, and a call for imagination in medical research.