When Burroughs wrote Queer in 1952, he was terrified of publication. At the time, Allen Ginsberg was being institutionalized for his homosexuality, and obscenity laws were draconian. The novel’s protagonist, Lee, is pathetic in his desire. In one excruciating scene, Lee attempts to buy a youth’s affection with a wristwatch—a transaction that fails miserably.

Focus on how "lust" replaces "heroin" as the primary addiction.

William S. Burroughs’s (written in the early 1950s but published in 1985) is a raw, short novel that explores the obsessive pursuit of love, the agony of addiction, and the birth of his literary voice.

is a relatively straightforward, sparse, and harrowing account of unrequited love. Review: 'Queer' by William S Burroughs