Paul Bowles

Three Americans drifting through postwar North Africa encounter the limits of human existence in the form of a land and a people utterly alien to them

The Sheltering Sky

Sheltering Sky

Donald

Wow. The end of this novel is incredible.

Melody Izard

This book is a terrifying, poetic book of a couple seeking a deeper relationship. Their journey into the Sahara is really a journey into their meaningless souls. One comes back changed forever and the other does not come back at all. Their friend, who is traveling with them, the most superficial of the group, refuses to venture into the desert and is almost unaffected by the journey. 

"...the sky hides the night behind it, shelters the person beneath from the horror that lies above." This book has little plot; the story is about the journey inward. I finished it feeling like I had just woken from a dream; I wasn't quite sure what it had all been about; but I was convinced I understood the meaning. Wow!

Draculelle

I read this book a few years ago but was lucky enough to visit Morocco this year, and after doing so I can say that Bowles did an excellent job of describing its beautiful and chaotic nature.

Jawad Abdulrazzaq

The sheltering sky

noki nolast

Nav Singh

The Sheltering Sky (P.S.)

Will Vunderink

Klaus Eck

A beautiful 65th anniversary paperback edition of the landmark literary work by acclaimed author Paul Bowles. In this classic work of psychological terror, Paul Bowles examines the ways in which Americans apprehend an alien culture—and the ways in which their incomprehension destroys them. The story of three American travelers adrift in the cities and deserts of North Africa after World War II, The Sheltering Sky is at once merciless and heartbreaking in its compassion. It etches the limits of human reason and intelligence—perhaps even the limits of human life—when they touch the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert.

Eitan Hershkovitz

Seth Kalback

This 50th anniversary edition of "The Sheltering Sky", one of the great novels of the 20th century, features an original review of the book by Tennessee Williams. "Stands head and shoulders above most other novels published in English since World War II".--"New Republic".

The Sheltering Sky

Reviews