B. John Burns, author - B. John Burns, author and songwriter

One Dollar (American) Tutor

One Dollar (American) Tutor currently available in paperback and ebook formats.

I grew up hearing my father's stories about his freshman year at Boston University, the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King and the laboratory of Alexander Graham Bell. The veritable Depression baby, in 1947 my dad found himself thrust into academic competition with the grizzled returning veterans of a world war.

The bulk of those stories involved his two roommates — Ferdie from Medellin, Colombia and, more prominently, Pong from Bangkok, Siam. Three young men all emerging from tough times on three separate continents, representing three diverse cultures. They were tales I'd heard so many times over the years that I could tell them myself with a great deal of accuracy.

Then, on a Sunday afternoon in 2019, there was one brief recollection I hadn't heard before. Something about taking the train to Harvard with Pong to meet a prince.

That's when I realized . . .

This is a book about growing up Irish American in Worcester, Massachusetts during the Depression, and then coming of age in the looming shadow of the war. Boston University is a fresh start for Buddy Burns. It's a fresh start for the waves of veterans coming home from Europe and the Pacific. It's a fresh start for two young men -- one from Asia and one from South America. Sent to Boston by families of influence being swept up in tumultuous events back home, Ferdie and Pong are here to equip themselves for lives of service.

Everybody gets a fresh start in 1947.

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Dessyre (des-i-ray): inspired by actual events is now available from Amazon in paperback and ebook formats.

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Alvey is an obscure singer/songwriter eking out a living as a soloist in eastern Kansas. After a late gig on an exceptionally warm Thursday evening in June, he offers a stranded woman a ride to the edge of town. Then everything goes awry.

The passenger is an alien.

From Canada.

Marissa grew up in Kansas City. She went to high school in Kansas City, was the editor of the school newspaper, and dated the quarterback.

Then she served in the Marines.

When she is 35 and homeless, she is caught buying some marijuana from an undercover deputy.

For that, she is banished from the United States.

To Canada.

Then who exactly is Dessyre?

"Dessyre is a most beguiling story"

"Musician and author B. John Burns Ill delivers another captivating read in his latest book, Dessyre. Inspired by actual events, John takes on a journey both familiar yet surprising.

"B. John Burns Ill expands his decades of lyric-writing experience into the realm of fiction writing, and makes that transition with masterful and captivating ease. Dessyre is a most beguiling story" — The Culture Buzz

"Dessyre (des-i-ray) is a revealing novel"

"Spotlighting the labyrinthine nature of immigration proceedings through the story of a captivating woman, Dessyre (des-i-ray) is a revealing novel." — Meg Nola, Foreward/Clarion Reviews.

https://www.forewordreviews. com/reviews/dessyre-des-i-ray/

"A gripping story brimming with psychological subtlety." — Kirkus Reviews

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ book-reviews/b-john-burns-iii/ dessyre-des-i-ray/

Baby Pictures: My Year on the Road with Baby Lester and the Buggybumpers now out in print and eBook format!

"Compelling memoir about a musician's coming of age"

"Recalling a 1970s cross-country tour and written with dry wit, Baby Pictures is a compelling memoir about a musician's coming of age."— Carolina Ciucci, Foreword/Clarion Review.

"Joyful nostalgia trip to 1976"

"B. John Burns takes readers on a joyful nostalgia trip to 1976 with this account of his memorable year in a struggling Omaha, Nebraska-based band. This memoir conveys a transformational period in his young life, when gas was cheap and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was in heavy rotation on the car's AM radio." Blue Ink Review

"A young man's road trip through the US making music"

"This book was a joy. A tale of humorous adventure, a young man's road trip through the US making music. John is fearless in his portrayal of his young self and unafraid to laugh at his misadventures. His writing style reminded me a great deal of John Kennedy Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces". Thanks John for this portrait of the '70's I think you were one of the few who got through it sober." — Iowa Blues Legend Vicki Price

"Great story -- fine read"

"This book is a lot of fun, especially given that I'm a musician who did a long road stint his own self. Burns and I played a number of the same places, knew the same irascible club owners, and even worked with the same drummer for a couple of years. The road stories, good and bad, ring incredibly true. They represent the kind of life, and the kind of musical career, that it's, frankly, no longer possible to have (he said, wistfully). If you're from Iowa, are a musician, or just wonder how a lot of this stuff used to work, I highly recommend the book." -- Guitarist Don Myers

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Hard-cover print copies of Baby Pictures: My Year on the Road with Baby Lester and the Buggybumpers may be ordered through Bookbaby Bookshop. The eBook is out on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble and other stores.

El Mensajero

El Mensajero

23-year-old Billy Quinn is an out-of-work stage actor who can find employment only as a bank messenger.. One afternoon in 1979 he is sent to a depository bank where he is handed a burlap bag containing nearly $400,000 in fresh United States currency to carry back to his bank. Billy is an honest, ethical man who does his job and makes the delivery. Several weeks later, he is sent back for what this time is a shipment of nearly $700,000. Again, he does his job.

Then, on July 5, the receipt on the burlap sack tells him it contains $1.2 million.

How's your Spanish?

John's first fictional novel.

Order El Mensajero

El Mensajero is available in paperback, Amazon Kindle and free to subscribers of Kindle Unlimited.

Selected Works

Historical Fiction

Dessyre (des-i-ray): inspired by actual events

The passenger is an alien.

From Canada.

Marissa grew up in Kansas City. She went to high school in Kansas City, was the editor of the school newspaper, and dated the quarterback.

Then she served in the Marines.

When she is 35 and homeless, she is caught buying some marijuana from an undercover deputy.

For that, she is banished from the United States.

To Canada.

Then who exactly is Dessyre?

Biography and Autobiography

Baby Pictures: My Year on the Road with Baby Lester and the Buggybumpers

B. John Burns was a middle-class Catholic school graduate destined, in the eyes of everyone who knew him, for law school. But after an unexpectedly rousing reception for one of his original songs at his senior class talent show, the only destiny in his mind was to become a rock star. "Baby Pictures" is a compelling autobiographical novel that tells his story of a life touring on the road – filled with nightclubs, hotels, and all that came with it. This is the story of a lifestyle that no longer exists today, but one that should never be forgotten.

One Dollar (American) Tutor

Then, on a Sunday afternoon in 2019, there was one brief recollection I hadn't heard before. Something about taking the train to Harvard with Pong to meet a prince.

That's when I realized . . .

Everybody gets a fresh start in 1947.

Quick Links

B. John Burns’ Amazon Author Page

All of the books available on Amazon

Order Dessyre on Amazon

Available in paperback and ebook

Order Baby Pictures in the hardcover or eBook formats

Baby Pictures is also available on Amazon, Barnes and Nobel and many others.

Order Dead Horses in hard-cover, soft-cover and eBook formats.

All three formats are available for order on Amazon.

Order The New Rules in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats.

All three formats are avaialbe on Amazon. The New Rules is free to subscribers on Kindle Unlimited.

Order El Mensajero in paperback and Kindle eBook formats

El Mensajero is free to subscribers to Kindle Unlimited.

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B. John Burns, author and songwriter

B. John Burns’ Amazon Author Page

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B. John Burns is an obscure Johnston, Iowa songwriter who celebrated his Golden Jubilee in 2022. Since writing "Last Airport Home" in September 1972, John has written approximately 5,000 songs in nearly every genre of music. He has appeared in 25 states, and continues to perform his tunes for mostly small, intimate audiences on piano, guitar, and ukulele.

To put food on the table, John has worked as a busboy, a stereo salesman, a bank messenger, a criminal defense attorney, a grill cook, a Pinkerton guard, a political organizer, a bank bookkeeper, a published author, a paid actor, and a martial arts instructor. Through it all, he has continued to write music on nearly a daily basis.