Fair enough. I'm aware of Eliot and his importance, but I haven't dived into his stuff.

Hunter Thompson called Burroughs "A Shootist", a man who uses words like a gun.
He seemed to have a strong grasp of what ails mankind, and he turned it into art, like Kubrick did, post-Spartacus.
Burroughs and Jim Morrison have one thing in common: they both knew that it will all end badly.
The Place of Dead Roads does have nutty ideas, that's for sure, but I'll take it (especially Burroughs' style of nutty).
He can indeed get away with it. A select few can. ;)