The Cat Inside - William S. Burroughs,alternate early draft excerpts,1985 live reading

A book of (largely) non-fiction William S. Burroughs published in 1986, mostly about cats & his experiences with them. This reading is from July 28, 1985 from Naropa University when he was still revising the book (he said he typically revised each writing 3 or 4 times before publishing). This is a different reading with mostly different material from what others have previously uploaded to YT from "The Cat Inside" . The excerpts Burroughs reads here are also largely quite different from the same sections that eventually appeared in the published book. For instance, the section he reads on Bigfoot, & also the one on Los Alamos Ranch School & the badger, are much longer here than in the book. In the reading, Burroughs here includes the last passage from the book but it too is different from the published version, the last line he reads here being an addition. Burroughs became a dedicated cat person in his old age. Somewhere he wrote or said something like "cats taught me compassion." Here's Burroughs' own useful description of the book transcribed from this reading, a description that doesn't appear in the published book itself: QUOTE: "This book is about inter-species contact, not inter-species communication. There is a basic difference between communication & contact. Communication is designed to avoid contact, to maintain a distance across which communication can take place. Contact avows identification with a creature you contact, & this can be very painful. Communication can be forced. Contact cannot. You cannot force anyone to feel. This cat book recounts my own experiences with inter-species contact. You know when it happens. It can't be faked..." The cats in photos in the slide show are all pics of Burroughs' own cats - he reportedly had 6 cats at the time of this reading, according to Allen Ginsberg when he introduced Burroughs onstage - except for the last 3 cat pics that appear after the applause starts once Burroughs finishes reading - those are 3 of my own cats, beginning with my cat "Monkey" sleeping on top of my copy of "The Cat Inside" book. It may look staged, but no, I didn't pose him for the picture, he conveniently posed himself! I've since uploaded to YT two Burroughs lectures: -"William S. Burroughs lecture,July 20,1976,on paranormal,EVP,text+tape cut-ups,prognostication" :    • William S. Burroughs lecture,July 20,1976,...   -"William S. Burroughs lecture,writing class,June 25,1986,on paranormal,synchronicity,dreams" :    • William S. Burroughs lecture,writing class...   ******************************************************************************* Quotable Cat Quotations: "I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." ( Hippolyte Taine) "The smallest feline is a masterpiece." ( Leonardo da Vinci) -"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. " (- Jeff Valdez) "God made the cat in order that humankind might have the pleasure of caressing the tiger." ( Fernand Mery) -"There are two means of refuge from the misery of life - music and cats." (- Albert Schweitzer) -"I love cats because I love my home and after a while they become its visible soul." (- Jean Cocteau) "Of all God's creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." ( Mark Twain) "A meow massages the heart." ( Stuart McMillan) "Cats are a visual feast." ( Siouxsie Sioux) "With the qualities of cleanliness, affection, patience, dignity, and courage that cats have, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?"( Fernand Mery) "As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat." ( Ellen Perry Berkeley) -"People who hate cats will come back as mice in their next life." (- Faith Resnick)