The Delicate Prey (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Paul Bowles
- First Published: 1950
- Type of Work: Short story
- Genres: Realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Africa or Africans, Traveling or travelers, Tradition, Death or dying, Horror
- Locales: Africa, Mauretania
Bowles's most celebrated short story is a brutal, ironic tale of fatal misjudgment, of deceit, of appalling cruelty, and of the destruction of a destroyer. Nature, in the form of the Sahara Desert, is as much a protagonist as is young Driss, the tale's victim.
“The Delicate Prey” revolves around three members of the Filala tribe, two brothers and Driss, the son of their sister, who make a fateful journey to the desert town of Tessalit. Driss is a young, virile man who enjoys the brothels of the town in which he resides. His uncles decide to take a short route to Tessalit...
[The entire page is 609 words long]

