Describing the Yage Letters is difficult. In the informative foreword by Oliver Harris, there is an excerpt from a correspondence sent by Allen Ginsberg to Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Light Publishing in which Ginsberg refers to the Yage Letters as something radically new and versatile in literary genres. I'm inclined to agree with Ginsberg's description. The Yage Letters is epistolary, ethnographic, fiction, nonfiction, and at the same time none of these genres. This disregard for categorization would go on to become a staple of Burroughs writing.
The beginning of the Yage Letters starts at the end of Burroughs residency in Mexico. After accidentally shooting his common-law-wife, Burroughs fled Mexico to South America to escape prosecution and to search for the mysterious hallucinogenic yagé. Burroughs became interested in yagé upon hearing that it had healing properties and that it bestowed telepathic ability on those who had taken it. He hoped that it could heal him of his junk sickness and restore his soul after the tragedy that occurred in Mexico.
During his trip in South America Burroughs kept in frequent contact with Allen Ginsberg about his experiences and thoughts on the places he went. In these letters you can see traces of material that Burroughs would later incorporate into such books as Naked Lunch. What is unique to the Yage Letters Redux is how Oliver Harris tirelessly collected notes, previously unreleased material, and background information on the construction of the original novel. It turns out that contrary to popular belief these letters are not entirely factual. According to Harris' research Burroughs added a great deal of fiction to the letters that made their way into the manuscript "In Search of Yage" when held up to the actual letters Burroughs sent Ginsberg from that time. In addition to this revelation Harris also includes material that Burroughs had hoped would be included in the original pressings but was rejected by City Light Publishing. Stuff like Roosevelt After Inauguration is here like Burroughs intended. There are also letters from Ginsberg to Burroughs about his own trip to South America to try yagé 10 years later which I personally found to be some of Ginsbergs most interesting writing.
For those interested in the chronicling of psychedelic experience you may be wondering how the Yage Letters stacks up to Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception. Having read both, my perspective is that DOP is more of a formal textbook essay of psychedelics whereas Yage Letters coasts between entertainment and clinical analysis. Between the two I found the philosophical theorizing in DOP to be more fascinating than what's contributed to the Yage Letters from Burroughs. Ginsbergs letters describe the experience in far more poetic terms and was a captivating read. I'd be inclined to say they're apples and oranges in a way, but pick up both. You'll certainly get valuable information and understanding from both.
This is definitely one to pick up if you're a fan of these two literary luminaries. In these letters you can see how South America shaped Burroughs creatively and subsequently found it's way into his future writings. The Yage Letters is an indispensable part of the evolution of these two as writers and highly worth your time to read.
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