In Touch: The Letters of Paul Bowles [Hardcover]

Paul Bowles (Author), Jeffrey Miller (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1994

A collection of correspondence from the author of The Sheltering Sky discusses his attempts to record primitive Moroccan music, nature and the craft of writing, the Beat writers, living in North Africa, and other topics.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Expatriate American novelist, story writer and composer Bowles, who has lived in Morocco for nearly a half century, is a prolific letter writer, as attested to by his expansive, conversational correspondences with the likes of Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Gore Vidal and Virgil Thomson. A vast humming tableau of the avant-garde, these 400-plus letters extending from 1928 to 1991, vividly evoke Bowles's frenetic activity in the Paris of the 1930s and '40s, where he met Jean Cocteau, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and painter Pavel Tchelitchew. Peppered with firsthand impressions of Tennessee Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Schwitters, Aaron Copland and many others, the volume, edited by his biographer, also contains Bowles's sharp lyrical travel observations from Mexico to Ceylon, as well as his reflections on the unconscious processes that guide his writing of fiction. Most revealing are his letters to his wife Jane Bowles during her 16 years of suffering from a neurological disorder that destroyed her eyesight and led to strokes, convulsive seizures and electroshock therapy for depression. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

American-born composer and writer Bowles settled in Tangier after traveling extensively in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. These letters, culled from more than 7000 pages of correspondence, record Bowles's activities and friendships from 1928 through 1991. Correspondents include Gertrude Stein, Virgil Thompson, Tennessee Williams, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs, among others. The subjects covered in the letters vary greatly, but many of them deal with one of Bowles's favorite themes--travel. Among the most interesting letters are those dealing with Jane Bowles's breakdown and hospitalization. The work includes biographical notes and an Arabic glossary. Recommended for contemporary literature collections.
- William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 604 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux; 1st edition (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374185107
• ISBN-13: 978-0374185107
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,720,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.