"The Junky's Christmas" is a short story by

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

. It originally appears in the 1989 collection '' Interzone'' and on the 1993 album ''Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales''. It was later adapted into short claymation film and a

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

version was performed through a collaboration between

and Kurt Cobain.

Plot

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

, penniless and withdrawing from opiates, Danny emerges from a 72-hour stay in a police holding cell. Hoping to make enough money to buy his next hit of heroin, he scours the streets looking for something to steal. After an unsuccessful attempt to break into a parked car, he discovers an unattended suitcase sitting in a doorway. He makes off with the case and takes it to an abandoned park to examine its contents. There he finds that the case contains two severed human legs. Disgusted, he discards the legs and tries to find a buyer for the suitcase. He finds a buyer who gives him three dollars but also informs him that the local heroin dealer has been arrested. Unable to find heroin anywhere Danny decides to visit a doctor with the hopes of obtaining some

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...

. When he reaches the doctor’s house he pretends to be suffering from facial neuralgia. The doctor is suspicious but gives Danny a quarter of a grain of morphine free of charge. With his morphine tablet secreted away, Danny rents a room for two dollars. As he prepares to inject the morphine, he hears groaning coming from the next room. Distracted, he follows the sound of the groaning across the hall to find a young man suffering from

kidney stone Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...

s. Danny offers to call an ambulance, but soon realizes that the paramedics will not come as they believe the young man is faking illness to obtain opiates. Danny selflessly administers his morphine to the young man. The morphine immediately alleviates the young man's pain. Danny returns to his room. All of a sudden he begins feeling the effects of heroin; it appears that his good deed has been rewarded with "the immaculate fix". Danny nods off to sleep.

Film adaptation

In 1993, ''The Junky's Christmas'' was adapted into a short

claymation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

film which was co-directed by Nick Donkin and

Melodie McDaniel Melodie McDaniel (born 1967) is a Los Angeles, CA-based American still life, celebrity, and advertising photographer and film director. Early life and background Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, McDaniel graduated in 1992 from Art Center Co ...

and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. The film was released by

Koch Vision Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in North America on November 21, 2006. Burroughs' reading of the story recorded for ''Spare Ass Annie'' serves as the narration of the film, while Burroughs appears in live-action footage at the beginning and end of the film.

The "Priest" They Called Him

The "Priest" They Called Him is the spoken word version of The Junky's Christmas done by

over a guitar track by Kurt Cobain.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Junky's Christmas 1989 short stories American short stories Works by William S. Burroughs Short stories adapted into films Short stories about drugs Christmas short stories