Mentored by a Madman: The William Burroughs Experiment, Hardcover/A. J. Lees

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.