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A brilliant collection of short stories by one of the most
distinguished writers in twentieth-century literature.
Their setting is primarily North Africa, the author’s
adopted home – an enigmatic environment where Western
influences float like oil on the older, deeper waters of more
primitive cultures, never truly altering or disrupting them.
On this background the author draws his diverse and powerful
portraits – of sexual perversion, racial antagonism,
hallucination, superstition, justice and its dark counterpart,
revenge. And with each story he creates a tension that mounts
towards a violent or stunningly incisive climax.
‘“Pages From Cold Point” is one of the best
stories ever written by anyone.’ – Norman Mailer
‘A collection which any living writer might covet.’
– Guardian
‘Terse, pregnant narratives . . . impeccably clear yet
an enigma intacta.’ – Times Literary Supplement
‘In cool, elegant prose Bowles squarely confronted the
apparent futility of existence . . . as a narrator and psychological
observer he has few superiors.’ – Financial Times
‘Outstanding.’ – Londoner
PAUL BOWLES (1910 – 1999) was born in New York and came
to Europe in 1931 to study music with Aaron Copland. In 1938
he married Jane Auer, herself a gifted writer, who was to
achieve literary fame under her married name of Jane Bowles.
After the war they settled in Tangier, which became their
permanent home. Paul Bowles is the author of The Sheltering
Sky, which has since become a modern classic and which
was filmed in 1990 by Bernardo Bertolucci. His other books
include Let It Come Down, Points in Time and
The Spider’s House. |
