Alexander Trocchi was born in Glasgow in 1925. By the time of his death in 1984, he had cut a colourful swathe through many of the important cultural movements in both Europe and America. A controversial figure, described variously as a junkie, pimp, outsider, Scottish beat, literary outlaw, visionary, philosopher, underground organiser and antique book dealer, Trocchi rubbed shoulders with many of the great names of modern literature. Allen Ginsberg, Samuel Beckett, William Burroughs, Eugene Ionesco, Norman Mailer, Jean Genet, Timothy Leary, R.D. Laing and many others fell into his orbit of influence.