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The publication by Black Sparrow in 1979 of Paul Bowles' Collected Stories sparked the rediscovery of Bowles' works that has brought world renown t...
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reviews
Jul 12, 2008
Muna
rated it: 
Hideous and horrifying. If you aren't yet scared of Arabs, this'll do the trick. In truth, if you haven't yet learned to be afraid of all people and simultaneously in awe of their beauty, Paul Bowles can show you the way.
The following is lifted from "The Sheltering Sky" and were some of the first words I heard that made me reckon with mortality:
"Death is always on the way, but the fact that you don't know when it will arrive seems to take away from the fini More...
The following is lifted from "The Sheltering Sky" and were some of the first words I heard that made me reckon with mortality:
"Death is always on the way, but the fact that you don't know when it will arrive seems to take away from the fini More...
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Apr 22, 2008
Suzi
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If you want a taste of Paul Bowles that's wonderful and disturbing... read his collection of short fiction. His genius is in taking us away from what we feel is normal--our preconceptions of who were are--to ourselves and to the ones we love. What happens when human beings are in a totally alien world. where one cannot assume anything, let alone the direction the breezes blow at night and through your room. And what pestilence and open sore and medieval stasis awaits around the next bend? A
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Jan 20, 2008
Will
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Beautiful, just beautiful. And scary. The best in here, to me, are "A Distant Episode," "The Fourth Day Out from Santa Cruz," and "Pastor Dowe at Tacate." Three of my all-time favorite short stories, and they're all in this one, beautifully bound book. Amazing.
I love the sense of alienation that Bowles's characters evince. These stories all feel cold and frightening, yet beautiful. Many of them proceed through a sort of dreamy reality that makes More...
I love the sense of alienation that Bowles's characters evince. These stories all feel cold and frightening, yet beautiful. Many of them proceed through a sort of dreamy reality that makes More...
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Sep 09, 2007
Amari
rated it:
stunning. some of these stories really approach perfection. i read many of them about 10 years ago, but i reread every last one this summer and found no fault with any of them. bowles' tendency toward a concomitant sensitivity and roughness is irresistible, and i am very attracted by his ability to write about cultures that are not his own without setting up the "us-them" dichotomy which is the downfall of so much travel writing (fictional and non-). in fact, bowles often does use an "
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Sep 29, 2007
Tosh
rated it:
Paul Bowles is a very cold creepy writer. And that's what makes him wonderful. The unique way he reads 'culture' outside of the European/American existence is both fascinating and superb at the same moment. An unusual writer in a rather special time in literary history.
I much prefer his short stories than his novels. I just like his concrete intense energy in telling of these strange tales. The Beats had a great admiration for Bowles, because I think he traveled not only locat More...
I much prefer his short stories than his novels. I just like his concrete intense energy in telling of these strange tales. The Beats had a great admiration for Bowles, because I think he traveled not only locat More...
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Sep 25, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
The Collected Short Stories of Paul Bowles: this collection certifies Bowles brilliance. I have enjoyed his novels, but these fascinating short stories reveal him to be one of the greatest American writers of the century, perhaps the most under-rated American writer. I like the fact that his stories are often set in exotic locals like Morocco, S. America, Mexico, and Thailand. He is also good with stories about expats as well as those written form the point of view of locals, some of these stori
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Jun 23, 2008
David
rated it:
"The Delicate Prey" may very well be the most perfect short story I've ever read, whatever the hell that means. I guess that every word not only sounds and feels and looks as if it belongs but that the story as a whole is one I simply cannot forget and will always reference as a model short story--that impossible moment when the way I read, what and whom I read, was forever changed.
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Jan 28, 2008
olivia
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I feel that Bowles is at his best when he pens short stories. He really knows how to condense suspense and tense scenarios into a few pages, usually leaving you unsettled. Wonderful.
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Dec 02, 2008
Lady R.E. Miller
rated it: 
I'm not in love with every single story in this collection; in fact, there are a few I think are really mediocre. However, some of them are so damn good it just makes the whole thing worth it. "How Many Midnights?" is one of them. It's one of the strangest scary stories I've ever read -- b/c truly nothing happens. Every time I read it I try to work out how Bowles managed to convey such horror -- he did it so subtly it's almost impossible to figure out. That story sticks in my head as m
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Aug 16, 2010
Andy
rated it:
One of my favorite collections of short stories. There are times when Bowles dispenses with traditional story conventions, as in there are no heroes or villains, some stories never reach a resolution, some don't even have a moral to them. All I know is once you've read "A Distant Episode" your life will never be the same.
Jul 03, 2010
John
rated it:
This is probably the best collection of short stories ever produced. The breadth of subjects, the beauty of the prose, and the lingering effects of the stories keep me returning to the wonderful book.
Aug 16, 2010
Leopoldine
rated it:
Really scary stories. At first, what he does seems like nothing, but then the writing gets swift and beautiful. Read "The Hours After Noon" first. The dialogue is often perfect.
Dec 07, 2009
Hans
rated it:
Treacherous, often beautiful, and occasionally dissosiative... more later...
Apr 21, 2009
Walter
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Bowles is a master of the short story; of any short story writer he’s the only one that’s stayed with me since reading him. So much so that he was calling out to be read again.
Dec 23, 2009
Duc
rated it:
Best stories:
Delicate Prey
Pages from Cold Point
Circular Valley - Similar to Jorge Luis Borges'Circular Ruin. It is about a spirit which enters human being because it was curious. The spirit feels the emotions of being human.
A linguist meets his ironic tragedy.
Some of the stories are written on a ship traveling to other continents. Bowles wrote them for personal amusement.
Delicate Prey
Pages from Cold Point
Circular Valley - Similar to Jorge Luis Borges'Circular Ruin. It is about a spirit which enters human being because it was curious. The spirit feels the emotions of being human.
A linguist meets his ironic tragedy.
Some of the stories are written on a ship traveling to other continents. Bowles wrote them for personal amusement.
Sep 07, 2011
John
rated it:
Bowles is an author that you just wish he had written more or that someone found some new undiscovered manuscript he left somewhere in Morocco. Pure genius.
Sep 05, 2008
oh carlyn
rated it: 
okay look i am a sucker for short stories, and even though a lot of people consider bowles one of the premier beat writers, i resisted this collection because i couldn't get into shletering sky and thought he was just kind of boring. i can't say my opinion changed too terribly much, although the delicate prey was a horrifying read and a few of the other stories were upsetting, which i like. all in all i give this a "meh".
Mar 25, 2008
I read a couple more stories on my trip this weekend, and this book is pretty good, but hard to read because most of the protagonists are complete assholes!
Jun 10, 2008
The "Delicate Prey" and "A Distant Episode" are stories that no person could ever forget. I've never read such brutal, icy violence.
Jul 01, 2008
Amy
rated it:
Wow, not one review of this book. I have read about 20% of the stories in this book. Beautiful short stories.
Jan 20, 2012
alicatstrut
rated it:
These stories. They say the real things you feel dangling just beyond your grasp. They stick with you.
Feb 08, 2008
Craig
rated it:
Rad stories from the master. Stole a title of a story from here for an album.
May 08, 2008
Jenny.p
rated it:
Beautifully stark and quiet. Simple, yet provocative. Quite wonderful really...
