Dr. Gonzo,
You heard correct. That cut-up technique was actually discovered by Burroughs' artist friend Brion Gysin who was cutting up some newspaper articles one day with a stanley blade for fun and when he rearranged them he found that they created new words, new word-combos and new texts. He showed this to Burroughs who thought it to be a great literary invention (must of been the weed he was smoking at the time), and Burroughs went on to publish three full-length novels (The Soft Machine, The Ticket That Exploded, and Nova Express) using this, ahem, technique. He would use his own writings and those of famous writers such as Conrad. The basic method was to take a page of writing fold it four times and cut with a pair of sccisors. Repeat and rearrange the sections. He explained his new writing method to Sammual Beckett in a Parisan bar one night, and the Irishman lost his rag - 'That's plumbing not writing?' said Beckett - 'Words don't run around with brands on them, like cattle,' The mild mannered mid-western Burroughs replied. But it was a difficult technique to read. If you thought NL was tough to read then try reading the Nova Trilogy.
Funnily enough these cut-up novels brought Burroughs to the attention of the science-fiction community and in particular William Gibson, who lifted more than one idea from old Bill. William Burroughs also wrote a sc-fi film script called Blade-Runner, although it was not the script used for the film. The producers simply nicked the title.
On a historical note Burroughs' grandfather invented the adding machine, which meant that banks and accounts no longer had to do sums in their heads. This kind of technology later led to inventions like the computer. William Burroughs had this same need to invent and that is why I think he probably took the cut-ups method too far.
A very interesting person. Very intelligent and a great writer. His main failing was this chronic inability to write using plot and character development. He was a very important 20th century cult figure.
