The Sheltering Sky

by Paul Bowles

This 1949 novel is Paul Bowles's first, and it is considered to be his masterpiece. THE SHELTERING SKY portrays marriage as a battleground, and illustrates the ways in which lack of communication between individuals can result in coldness and inhumanity--and the need to retain one's identity in a sexual relationship. Set in Morocco and the African desert, the novel is also about the dangerous lure of the "primitive." THE SHELTERING SKY was on bestseller lists in the US for 11 weeks; it was made into a 1990 movie by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Debra Winger and John Malkovich.

Editions of The Sheltering Sky

ISBN 9780679729792	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Random House Inc	Date 1990	Price $1.00	Good
ISBN 9780912946436	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Natl Book Network	Date 1978	Price $1.00	Used, Very Good
ISBN 9780880015820	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Harpercollins	Date 1998	Price $1.00	Very Good
ISBN 9780060834821	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Perennial	Date 2005	Price $4.00	Good
ISBN 9780060199166	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Harpercollins	Date 2000	Price $28.47	Used - Good

Publisher Notes

When The Sheltering Sky was first published in 1949, it established Paul Bowles as one of the most singular and promising writers of the postwar generation. Its startlingly original vision has withstood the test of time and confirmed Tennessee Williams's early estimation: "The Sheltering Sky alone of the books that I have . . . read by American authors appears to bear the spiritual imprint of recent history in the western world." In this classic work of psychological terror, Bowles examines the ways in which Americans apprehend an alien culture and the ways in which their incomprehension destroys them.

The story of three worldly young travelers Port Moresby, his wife, Kit, and their friend, Tunner--adrift in the cities and deserts of North Africa after World War II, The Sheltering Sky is merciless in its evocation of the emotional dislocation induced by a foreign setting. As the Americans embark on an ill-fated journey through desolate terrain, they are pushed to the limits of human reason and intelligence by the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert. Along the way, they encounter a host of enigmatic characters whose inarticulate strangeness seals the travelers off even more completely from the culture in which they are traveling, causing their fierce attachments to one another to unravel.

This special fiftieth anniversary commemorative edition of Bowles's unforgettable first novel includes the original New York Times review by Tennessee Williams and a preface the author wrote for his first novel before he died in 1999.

Media Reviews

"With the hesitant exception of one or two war books by returned soldiers, 'The Sheltering Sky' alone of the books that I have recently read by American authors appears to bear the spiritual imprint of recent history in the western world. Here the imprint is not visible upon the surface of the novel. It exists far more significantly in a certain philosophical aura that envelops it."

Review this book!